The Undergraduate Senate reaffirmed the validity of Paul Grever's vice presidential victory in the Nov. 19 special election, despite the wishes of some senators to pass a resolution condemning his win because of allegations he violated campaign rules.
The senate was not able to confirm or reject the results of the election as it was able to do in previous terms because of a change in the senate's bylaws, said Senate Speaker Caitlin Hodgkins.
Brian Kalish, a senator for the class of 2008 in the School of Communication who is also a staff writer for The Eagle, moved to have a symbolic vote to pass a resolution in protest of the election results.
Senators defeated the resolution by a vote of 13-8 with three senators abstaining.
Julie Mills, a senator for the class of 2010, voted against the symbolic resolution.
"It would further hurt the credibility of the Student Government," she said. "If a member of the Student Government or anyone else wants to challenge the outcome in future years so this does not occur again, then they should make a judicial inquiry."
An anonymous person filed a complaint with the Board of Elections the day of the election alleging Grever, a senior in the School of Public Affairs and the College of Arts and Sciences, violated campaign rules, said Board Chair Amy McConnel during a presentation at the meeting.
The anonymous person charged that Grever's friends illegally acted as his campaign staff inside Mary Graydon Center by asking people to use their computer to vote for him. The anonymous person claimed Grever was with his friends when they did this, McConnel said.
The board found Grever did not violate campaign rules because he said he did not ask his friends to act as his campaign staff. Grever said he had not been with his friends in MGC when they asked people to vote on their computer, McConnel said.
McConnel, who decided to allow the board to hear Grever's case instead of disqualifying him, said she agreed with the board's decision.
"I have total confidence in my board," she said. "I think they were impartial and that they made the ruling they were comfortable with."
Barron John Weyerhaeuser, a senator for the class of 2008 who is also a member of the board, said he disagreed with the campaigning that occurred in MGC but upheld the validity of Grever's victory.
"As a senator, I think the violation of the campaign rules was egregious," he said. "In the hearing, it came down to the question of the definition of a staff member. The current regulations are lacking; it's not clear what defines a staff member working for your campaign, and those regulations need to be clarified. It creates a dangerous precedent if those regulations are not to be changed."
The senate also confirmed the appointment of Amanda Hesse as the next SG comptroller. SG President Joe Vidulich nominated Hesse after the senate voted on Kalish's resolution.
Hesse, a senior in SPA and SOC, said she would bring her experience serving in the AUTO department this semester.
Current SG Comptroller David Teslicko said he was confident in Hesse's abilities.
"I think it's a great continuation of what I've been trying to do this semester, and I'm confident she'll do well in this position," he said.
Vidulich said he selected Hesse because of her experience in tasks related to the position of comptroller.
"She's new to the SG ... and she has a great deal of information on how to deal with budgets," he said. "This has been a rocky semester, so I want to bring someone into the position who is qualified"
