Culture representatives are adjusting to their new roles as full-fledged members of the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate, but senators say it is difficult to recognize the implications of the culture rep amendment, which grants reps voting power, until they sway a close vote.
Accusations of voting irregularities in the presidential election and constitutional referendum last April delayed the decision on whether to grant culture representatives a full vote in the Senate until this fall.
But tensions over the issue remain high, and were further enflamed recently by Committee on Student Life (CSL) Chairman junior Sam Dangremond, who says that then-President David Moon should not have chosen left-leaning students, such as members of the Coalition for Social Justice and Non-violence, as poll workers.
Dangremond, president of the Tufts Republicans and editor-in-chief of the Primary Source, called the poll workers "very highly political people with an agenda," saying "they shouldn't be working the polls just like I shouldn't be working the polls."
Moon said his choices of workers did not affect the election's outcome. "I think I ran things pretty ethically," he said. "Why would I ruin a whole year of good work on my last day?"
Sophomore Emily Good, who was among the Coalition members working the polls, also denied that she influenced the vote. "I didn't cheat," she said.
Moon said he hired poll workers at the request of the Elections Board (ELBO), and denied intentionally stocking the voting stations with student coalition members. "Naturally I would go to my friends, who are left leaning," he said. "Other workers were chosen from my Explorations class on Student Activism."
Informal complaints regarding the election process were brought to the Tufts Community Union Judiciary (TCUJ) recently, alleging that voters were not asked for their Student IDs, and that some students had stuffed multiple ballots into the ballot box while poll workers were looking the other way. Former Elections Board (ELBO) Chairman Shane Mason acknowledges that fraud took place, but says the problems were limited to the Dewick dining hall.
"I do know that several people working the polls had strong opinions one way or the other, but I know for a fact that they were not allowed to sway votes," said Angel Vail, the Tufts Transgender Lesbian Gay Bisexual Collective culture rep.
The amendment gave senate culture representatives, who are elected by their respective organizations, a full vote in the Senate. The representatives also sit on the Cultural, Ethnic, and Community Affairs Committee.
The change has upset students as well as some members of the Senate, who say the process for deciding which cultures have a representative is unfair. "I feel like if we're going to give cultural representatives the right to vote in the Senate, then there should be more representatives," Senator Edward Schwehm said. "There are more cultural groups on campus than the four that are represented."
Schwehm said the amendment is unconstitutional and undemocratic because it creates a situation where some students are doubly represented. But he said that he has not seen any problems arise as a result of its passage, saying that the only way it could make a difference is if there were a close vote.
According to Vail, however, the amendment should make senators more responsible to the classes that elect them. She said that often senators lobby for their own interests and not the interests of their classes.
"Usually senators have their own personal agendas and personal projects," she said.
