The fall election appeal submitted two weeks ago by four freshman senator candidates was denied and fall elections results stand, said Dean of Students Henry Kirby.
Vice President for Student Affairs Patricia Green-Powell made the final decision last week.
“Dr. Green-Powell decided the issues made in the appeal were minor and did not affect the outcome of the election,” Kirby said.
“The order issued by the vice president (Green-Powell) indicated that the results of the fall 2003 elections are to be upheld in their entirety,” he said. “All eight freshmen senators are official and can continue out their duties.”
Kirby said the listing of the candidates in The Famuan was not an official sample ballot and that the original ballot was impossible for voters to be confused.
“There were no confusions on the ballot. We are talking about a college campus and students are suppose to look at names not numbers, and there were no names even similar in spelling,” Kirby said.
The appeal also stated that because candidates received old codes – which prohibited bullhorn usage after 9 p.m. – they didn’t use a bullhorn at night, which could be used to attract votes.
“Bullhorns don’t vote, all the candidates played on the same field, the four freshmen candidates could have easily rescheduled their event,” Kirby said.
The four candidates for senator, Adrian Abner, Carlos Bates, Fredrick Simmons, and Reginald Ward received legal counsel on their appeal from Jarrett Tyus, a senior political science and public management student.
Tyus said he still has not received a written copy of the decision made by Green-Powell. But because Tyus met with Kirby Monday, the four freshmen candidates have been told the results.
“Although there were errors made during elections, Green-Powell said they were not significant enough to affect the election outcome,” Tyus said.
According to Tyus, the four freshmen candidates felt their rights were violated, but they must respect the decision and learn from this experience. Neither one of the four candidates were available for a comment.
“My clients are disappointed, but at the same time I know the appeal was given proper consideration and I’m not upset with the verdict because justice was served,” said the 20-year old from Florence, Ala.
The appeal stated that the candidates were given election codes different from the codes the commission used during fall elections and that a newspaper listing of candidates confused students.
Electoral Commissioner Lance Eldell said the all candidates received identical codes even though they were the outdated ones.
“Everybody received the same codes and everyone signed off that they would be governed by these codes, therefore, those were the official codes for the fall 2003 elections,” Eldell said.
Sharon Coleman can be reached at sharonea2@hotmail.com.