The Colby Echo

Issue date: 4/9/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Alex Richards

The disqualification of Patrick Boland '09 and Cary Finnegan '09 and subsequent withdrawal of Joel Pitt '09 and Dan Heinrich '09 ([see article, Page left]) from the Student Government Association presidential election led to a unique situation in the organization's recent history. With no tickets officially left on the runoff election ballot as Spring Recess commenced, both candidates and the student body in general left the College amidst a bitter uproar and ensuing general confusion.

According to SGA Vice President Jeffrey Mullins, it is the responsibility of the current Vice President to run elections. "This had never happened before," Mullins said. "There is no protocol about how to handle this. All past guidelines are very ambiguous. I didn't want the decision [of how to proceed] to be mine alone." Thus, he organized a meeting of involved parties, including SGA President Nicholas Cade, all six members of the Judiciary Board (responsible for the decision to disqualify Boland/Finnegan) and every original presidential ticket (not only Boland/Finnegan and Pitt/Heinrich, but also already eliminated candidates Byron Meinerth '09, Lokesh Todi '09 and Dan Roboff '09). Participants held an informal discussion, sharing and debating ideas until a unanimous agreement was reached. The run-off between Boland/Finnegan and Pitt/Heinrich was to be held again. Meinerth, whose running mate Ben Green '09 is currently abroad, and Todi/Roboff were both invited to rejoin the race, but decided against doing so. Furthermore, the run-off for the representatives for the Class of 2011 was also to be decided by re-vote.
Mullins sent an Official Notice to the student body on Thursday, April 3, explaining the proceedings for the election re-vote. In this notice, he also made a request to students for input and participation in a future "election brainstorming session."

For this second round of run-offs, traditional campaigning was not to occur. Instead, each ticket submitted a written statement of no word limit to Mullins. On Sunday, April 6 these statements were sent through webmail to the entire student body, accompanied by an explanation from Mullins. The statements were also posted in Pulver Pavilion. Both sets of statements expressed gratitude for the interest and participation in the election and regret for the uproar and complaints caused by the disqualification of Boland/Finnegan. Each ticket also took the chance to restate certain aspects of their platforms, remind the student body why they believed they were most qualified and encourage students to vote.

Continued...

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