University of Virginia Library

Treasurer Election Invalidated

Student Council Upholds
Class President Election

By Peter Shea
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

Accepting the recommendations of its
Political Societies and Elections
Committee, the Student Council decided
last night to validate the election of Peter
Schmidt as President of the Class of
1970.

However, again following the advice
of the elections committee, the Council
voted to throw out the results of the
election for Treasurer.

The Council was given the task of
ruling on both issues when Jon Miller,
one of the defeated candidates for
president, claimed that the entire election
for class officers was "botched," in
particular the balloting for president.

In that election, Mr. Schmidt won the
office by four or five votes, with Paul
Larsen finishing second.

'Slip-Shod'

Mr. Miller repeated his charges last
night to the Council that "the election
was handled in such a slip-shod and
lackadaisical manner by those conducting it
that numerous obvious flaws in the election
process were easily noted by both candidates
and members of the Senior Class."

Mr. Miller cited as "irrefutable fact" that
the names of two of the candidates were united
as one, that in at least two polling places the
ballot boxes were not placed on time, that
there were no poll watchers and that the
sign-up sheets were not checked to ascertain if
they correlated with the number of votes cast.

Kevin Mannix, co-chairman of the Elections
Committee, agreed with Mr. Miller that the
election was handled poorly.

'Botched Election'

He said, "This election was botched, but it
was botched in such a way that everyone was
hurt, but not in such a way that one sole
candidate was hurt."

In voting to accept the results of the
presidential contest, the Council acted with the
knowledge that only six of the ballots cast had
the names of Mr. Miller and Jack Rhoades
combined and that on one of these, the voter
had written in Mr. Miller's proper name.

The committee's report acknowledged that
while the mistake could have affected Mr.
Miller on the other five ballots, even if all five
had been counted for either him or Mr.
Rhoades, the results would have still been the
same.

Henry Doggrell, another member of the
committee, said, "I agree with Kevin that the
election was botched but there are no
constitutional grounds to overturn the
presidential election; however, there are
grounds to overturn the election for treasurer."

In its report, the committee said that, in the
latter election, 95 of the cast ballots did not
have the name of Edgar Parrish. Since the
eventual winner, Boyd Page, received only 67
votes, the omission of Mr. Parrish's name could
have affected the outcome.

Council Jurisdiction

The Council also decided to return the
responsibility for handling the class elections
back to the Elections Committee. The
committee did have jurisdiction over the
elections in the past, but in recent years, the
class officers of the graduating class have taken
control.

Mr. Miller, in his charges, was particularly
critical of the way Bob Green, President of the
Class of 1969, handled this election.

No date has been set for the re-vote for the
treasurer's post.

Miller Disappointed

After the Council made its decision, Mr.
Miller said, "Although I am disappointed over
the specific Council ruling...I think that two
victories were gained. First, we have an
affirmation that the election was
mismanaged...and second, we know that the
students will no longer stand for elections held
in such a slipshod manner."

In other action taken last night, the Council
voted to send a letter to President Shannon
urging him to institute changes in the procedure
of selecting student representatives on faculty
committees.

The motion, introduced by President Bud
Ogle, calls for many significant changes. If Mr.
Shannon accepts the proposals, it would
establish the procedure that the President
would have to consult the Council on any
appointments he would make.

Presently, the Council sends a list of
recommendations to the President. Mr.
Shannon is free, however, to follow these
recommendations or to appoint his own
choices.

The Council letter would change the
procedure so that "the Council will consider all
committee recommendations and appoint the
student members to the University
committees...All student appointments will be
forwarded to the President of the University for
his confirmation. If the President feels that the
Council has erred in any of its appointments, he
may consult the Council and request certain
changes."

Double Veto

Originally, Mr. Ogle's proposal would have
given the President a veto over any student
appointment but his veto could have been
overruled by a vote of three-quarters of the
Student Council. This last section was dropped
at the request of Councilmen Ron Hickman,
Charles Majors and Ed Finch and as a sign to
Mr. Shannon that the Council was willing to
compromise.

After the section concerning the double
veto was eliminated, the Council voted 20-1 to
pass the motion, with Mr. Hickman casting the
sole dissenting vote. However, responding to an
earlier plea by Mr. Doggrell that the motion be
passed unanimously "so it could have a greater
impact" Mr. Hickman withdrew his vote and
made the decision unanimous.

After the vote Mr. Doggrell commented,
"It's a big day for the left-winger right-winger
factions. But I may be out of office tomorrow
in the Commerce School."