The Duke Student Government runoff elections have been postponed from Tuesday until Thursday due to the number of complaints filed during the weekend regarding the election held this past Thursday.
In the first election, 23 candidates vied for six seats on DSG's executive committee, but only two of those races were resolved by the vote tallies. DSG bylaw requires that candidates win their elections by a majority vote or a six percent margin of victory.
Since that election, seven complaints about four candidates' campaigning practices have been filed with the DSG elections commission. One complaint was withdrawn before the commission held a hearing because its content duplicated a previously submitted complaint.
Of the remaining six complaints, three were submitted Sunday -- two at the 5 p.m. deadline for filing complaints about the Thursday election. DSG bylaws stipulate that a hearing must occur within 24 hours of the submission of a complaint or an appeal. None of those three complaints have been heard yet.
The other three complaints have been ruled on by the DSG elections commission. One was appealed to the DSG judiciary and that appeal has also been resolved.
Trinity sophomore Lee Pritchard, chair of the elections commission, and other commission members decided late Sunday night to postpone the election.
"Because of the way candidates are handling this election, there is just no way to have a fair and just election on Tuesday," Pritchard said. "The commission has practically been doing nothing but hearing complaints all weekend."
The following complaints have been filed:
Trinity sophomore Randy Fink, a runoff candidate for DSG executive vice-president, filed last week before the election that a member of the campaign staff of Trinity sophomore Daleep Singh, the other runoff candidate for that position, tore down one of Fink's flyers in the Bryan Center; the commission ruled in favor of Singh and no appeal was filed.
Trinity sophomore Inhi Cho, the executive vice presidential candidate who failed to make the runoff, filed on Friday that Singh and his campaign staff tore down some of her flyers on East Campus; the commission sided with Cho, Singh appealed the decision, and the judiciary acquitted Singh. (See related story, p 1.)
Trinity freshman Lee Kenna, a member of the elections commission, filed a complaint Saturday against Trinity junior Milan Selassie, a runoff candidate for DSG president, accusing him of misreporting campaign costs; the commission ruled in favor of Selassie and no appeal was filed. (See related story, p. 1.)
Trinity freshman Kaz Latif filed on Sunday that Trinity freshman Nicole Kelly was unfairly able to create better campaign flyers than other candidates at a lower cost because her father is in the printing business; the elections commission has not yet held a hearing on the complaint.
Trinity juniors Christian Grose and Brian Thompson, both presidential candidates who did not qualify for the runoff, filed against Selassie on Sunday, claiming that Selassie stood within a 20-foot radius of the Burger King voting station, which violates campaigning bylaws; no hearing has been held yet.
Trinity seniors Katherine Lambert, chair of DSG's Student Organizations Finance Committee, and Larry Reich filed Sunday against Singh and Latif for allegedly breaking into the Publications Board office to produce flyers; no hearing has been held yet.
The elections commission is allowed by bylaws to dismiss complaints without a hearing, Pritchard said. The commission plans to meet today to decide if it will dismiss any of the remaining complaints.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.