Following an investigation by USG election officials and an emergency Senate meeting, vice-presidential candidate Freddy Flaxman '07 was strongly disciplined but not dismissed from the election.
The incident marked the conclusion of a weekend mired in voting and campaigning irregularities.
Jadwin Jungle
Flaxman — who co-founded Jadwin Jungle last year to promote student attendance and spirit at Princeton basketball games — sent a campaigning email to the Jungle's members, in which he wrote, "If elected, I would be able to make sure the Jungle continues to exist and provides the same great rewards that it now offers as well as even better ones in the future."
USG elections managers said the passage may be interpreted as a threat to the future of the organization if he were not elected vice president.
The elections managers — USG Academics Chair Shoum Chakravarti '05, Undergraduate Life Committee Chair Juan Lessing '05 and USG Social Chair Dan Pugliese '06 — accused Flaxman of violating campaign rules by "disseminating false information about accomplishments, endorsements, opponents or any other relevant false information."
But Flaxman rejected any claims of wrongdoing.
"I wasn't trying to 'disseminate false information,'" Flaxman said. "I never hinted that the Jungle could cease to exist."
Flaxman met with elections managers last night to appeal the charges. The appeal forced the USG to convene late Sunday night to come to a decision.
The USG issued Flaxman 49 penalty points; 50 would have dismissed him from the election. As a result, he will be forced to take down his website, discontinue sending campaign emails and there will be a warning on the ballot next to his name.
But not all USG members were in agreement.
"This process went too far and the election managers took it almost as an academic matter . . . forgetting the basic purpose was to keep a fair campaign," Chakravarti said. "We were overzealous at this point."
Flaxman said he viewed Jadwin Jungle as connected to his work as a senator.
"I used the Jadwin Jungle as my senatorial project," Flaxman explained. "When we negotiate money from sponsors . . . the primary reason they trust me is that I'm a member of the student senate."
Flaxman also said his email was misinterpreted.
"I feel frustration . . . This is part of the personal interpretation [of the elections managers] in a much more egregious way," Flaxman said.
Pugliese said making a decision on Flaxman's case was not easy.
"We are not against Freddy," Pugliese added. "We're just doing our job to make elections as fair as possible. We don't patrol."
Internet glitch
Freshmen who tried to vote online Sunday experienced a glitch in the system that only allowed them to vote for one of the Class of 2008 senators, instead of two.
USG Webmaster Clay Bavor '05 emailed the 121 freshmen who had voted before he fixed the glitch, explaining the votes would not count and students would have to revote.
Bavor attributed the incident to poor proofreading and of the online voting system.
"Unfortunately, with the web survey tool which the psych[ology] department also uses, there are 10 to 20 places where things can go horribly wrong," Bavor said.
USG President Matt Margolin said Bavor responded quickly.
"To [Bavor's] credit, the problem was cleared up literally in five minutes," Margolin said.
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