Though he won 52 percent of the vote in Wednesday's UPUA elections, UPUA President-elect Gavin Keirans faced another electoral challenge when a campaign violation was filed against him yesterday.
Though the violation was dismissed, it was the seventh filed against Keirans (sophomore-business administration) in the University Park Undergraduate Association (UPUA) election.
Twelve total campaign violations were submitted over the 10-day campaigning period; one more was submitted today. Violations can be filed until Monday.
Yesterday's violation alleged that Keirans breached a clause in the UPUA elections code that forbids campaigning inside public polling places.
Keirans campaigned at tables in East Halls yesterday, which were reserved for him by student advocacy group Safeguard Old State. Keirans serves as the executive director of Safeguard Old State, but he will step down from the position at next Thursday's meeting.
A public polling place manned by the Association of Residence Hall Students (ARHS) was stationed in East Halls yesterday.
ARHS Executive Vice President Kelley Costello (junior-communication arts and sciences) said when Keirans was approached by ARHS representatives, he told them he "had the table reserved and, therefore, had the right to stay there."
Costello said a polling place was then set up in the East Halls Residence Association (EHRA) office while Keirans remained at his table.
Costello said Keirans' presence in the same building as the polling place violates the elections code. The elections commission, however, ruled to dismiss the violation because Keirans was not told to leave the area and because "nobody knew" about the polling place in the East Halls Residence Association office, UPUA Internal Development Chairman Justin Waddell said.
Waddell (senior-economics) said the situation is "beyond logic."
UPUA Head Elections Commissioner Jon Lozano (senior-political science) said Wednesday night that the apparent lack of polling places in East Halls may have decreased the overall voter turnout; 4,291 students voted in this year's election, which is 1,645 less than last year. The lack of greek candidates may have also contributed to the drop in voters, Waddell added.
Although multiple violations were filed during the campaigning period, only one violation -- against presidential candidate Dan Kennedy (junior-history) -- was upheld. Hearings on two last-minute violations filed Wednesday delayed the release of vote totals and threatened Keirans with disqualification.
Former presidential candidates Pete Sowa (sophomore-finance and economics) and Matt Sabo's (sophomore-economics) campaign filed more violations than any other campaign, including the two late ones filed Wednesday, Waddell said.
"Campaigning based on looking for violations in someone else's platform doesn't really do much, in my opinion, to get your message out," Waddell said.
Sowa and Sabo earned second place with 804 votes.
Waddell, who called the hearings "unfortunate," said he didn't think they were necessary.
Sabo said he and Sowa were trying to keep the campaign process fair.
"We felt it was necessary for all the candidates to file violations to make sure that nobody stepped across the boundaries," he said.
Sowa would not comment on the violations.
Keirans said Wednesday night that he holds "no hard feelings" over the violations, and that he is considering inviting his fellow candidates to join UPUA. He added that he wants his executive cabinet to be made up of various student leaders across campus.
He said he plans to release a 40-day plan by next week "so ... we'll have some sort of plan with what we want to do with the rest of the year."
