Last year's ASUAF presidential election and its aftermath still leaves a bad taste in some people's mouths.

But with less than two weeks until ASUAF fall elections, problems from last year's race remain unresolved while new ones emerge.

Problems ranging from electioneering to conflict of interest to a lack of faculty oversight plagued last year's election, resulting in the disqualification of a candidate and student protests.  Three separate election reform bills have been introduced this semester, but none will likely pass before the Nov. 29 and 30 elections.

Not only that, but new problems have already arisen.  Senators voted in October to postpone elections by one week after failing to appoint an election board in time.  But two president-appointed seats still remain vacant, leaving only three students to oversee the elections.

The senate elected Sens. Patrick Frymark and Allison Matter to the board.  At their appointment meeting, only a few senators were willing to be nominated for the positions.

"I really don't expect anything catastrophic to happen in this next election," said Frymark.  But he added that many election documents need changed as they "have loopholes growing in them."

Matter, who shared the ticket with Brandon Maitlen last year, turned down the chance to run for reelection on the senate to sit on the Election Board.  "We already have some [rules] in place," she said, "but we have some gray areas that I'd like to see cleaned up."

The concern stems from last year's race, which pitted incumbent Thom Walker against challenger Maitlen.  When the polls closed, Maitlen had 43 more votes than Walker.

Walker filed a complaint with the Elections Board, the election oversight committee.  In his complaint, Walker alleged Maitlen had bribed voters with hamburgers on election day and unduly influenced Wood Center voters by using a sound system to broadcast music and occasionally his voice outside Constitution Hall. 

Walker had held a burger and music event the day before the elections in front of the same building.  But Walker distinguished his event by the day, since voters may have heard Maitlen from the booths.

The board unanimously dismissed Walker's bribery charge, but agreed that the sound system unduly influenced voters.  The board called for a new election, but Maitlen counter-complained, charging the board with impropriety. 

A review council agreed, resulting in a new board.  Students supporting both candidates filled the Senate Chambers to lobby for their choice.  The board disqualified Maitlen, making Walker the winner.

Electioneering complaints are not new.  During the fall 1994 election, a student watchdog group called the John Hanson Society accused the Alaskan Gay and Lesbian Association of electioneering at booths in order to sway votes on a sexual orientation referendum. 

But those incidents were before online voting, and according to a July 2004 report by former network administrator Joshua Kugler, ASUAF eliminated electioneering enforcement for the fall 2002 elections.

The report, detailing ASUAF's first year of online voting, explains that electioneering had "never been officially illegal, but it was heavily frowned upon by ASUAF."

"With no real way to enforce electioneering now – how can a candidate prove there was undue influence imposed upon a voter or voters [if they vote online]? – the concept of electioneering was completely done away with."

But during that same election, the Elections Board disqualified a candidate for leaving posters within 250 feet of the Wood Center polls.  ASUAF later reinstated her.

ASUAF's election manual has no clear rules about what election activities cannot be done on election day, and the Senate exempted itself from following state election laws in May 2002.  But many, such as Walker, refer to state statutes as a guide prohibiting political activity within 200 feet of a polling place.

In an interview three weeks ago, Walker said he plans to propose legislation outlining when campaign activities could be conducted.  Candidates could verbally campaign after submitting a petition, and post flyers after the ASUAF candidates' informational meeting.  All flyers would have to be taken down by the day of the election.

"I think that's the best way to do it and still allow campaigning," Walker said.

However, at press time, no such legislation had been introduced.  Instead, the only election reform bills entered have focused on the other major problem from last year: election board appointments.

Walker appointed three of the members to the second Elections Board after a review council called for a new board.  Walker re-filed his original complaint, the board sided with Walker, disqualifying Maitlen rather than calling for a new election.

Critics at the time argued Walker shouldn't have been allowed to appoint members as it gave him the ability to influence the outcome.

Sponsoring the first bill of the new term, Frymark proposed giving the Senate Chair appointment power when a sitting president faced a contested election, impeachment or recall.  The bill, which would have needed a two-thirds vote to amend the bylaws, failed 5-9.

Another bill, sponsored by Kelsey Hough, would take complaints related to the presidential election away from the Elections Board and give them to a five-member review committee elected by the Senate.  The president would also not be able to appoint board members when he or she is running for election.  The bill remains in committee.

ASUAF also has not proposed any solutions to a third problem from last year, the lack of faculty appeal.  Four days after Maitlen's disqualification, supporters submitted a petition with 451 signatures to the government demanding a new election.  The Senate dismissed the petition, and students appealed to the UA Grievance Council. 

But the council had been disbanded five years earlier, leaving the decision to reconvene the body with UA General Council Jamo Parrish.  The attorney ultimately concluded ASUAF had followed its rules of procedure, eliminating the need for the council.

"That's not really right," Matter said, "because it's one person."

Although last year's election may have seemed bad, the Senate was hit with an even larger scandal in 1995 when a ballot box, previously uncounted, turned up a month later in police custody.  At the time, campus police guarded the results until counted.

"It was a disaster, an absolute disaster," said Joe Hayes, former ASUAF president and current Alumni Association president.  New senators were inducted after a recount, he said, and he was nearly impeached.

But that was a decade ago, and for most, the memory of last year remains the guiding force.

"I look back on last year, and I see what went wrong," Matter said.  "Those are the kind of things I want cleared up."

Comment on this story...