Two members of the Elections Board (ELBO) have resigned after what former ELBO chair Shane Mason called the "worst job ever" of running a freshmen election. And the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Judiciary and the Senate have requested the resignation of the sole remaining ELBO member, Valentino Caruso.
The exodus from ELBO comes as a result of complications with the elections for TCU Senate freshmen representatives and the open Judiciary seat, which were cancelled last Friday, leaving vacant eight senate positions. The elections will be held this Thursday, but the advertised online format will be replaced by paper balloting in the campus center.
Mason did not send election information to IBallot.com, the online company hired to conduct student government elections, in time to start the voting process, causing the cancellation.
ELBO members at first thought they could mitigate the problems by holding the election for only 12 hours but eventually abandoned the plan.
ELBO, the Judiciary, and the Senate held emergency meetings over the weekend to address the failed election. On Friday night, the Senate executive board and chair and vice-chair of the Judiciary met to discuss how the election should proceed. Because of its mismanagement of the year's first election, the ranking student government officers asked the ELBO members to resign.
The Senate executive board, the Judiciary, existing members of ELBO, and one member of the Committee on Student Life (CSL) - the highest court at Tufts, consisting of both faculty and students - met on Saturday to launch an official complaint against ELBO. The Senate's weekend retreat was canceled and has not been rescheduled.
Mason and former ELBO member Adam Mueller both resigned from their posts during the Saturday meeting, but Caruso, the ELBO treasurer, refused to resign. Senior Albert Huang was previously impeached by ELBO for missing more than three meetings.
One complaint from the Senate and a joint complaint from the Senate and the Judiciary were filed to the CSL requesting Caruso's resignation. The document alleges that ELBO did not carry out its constitutionally mandated duty to hold the freshman election within the first month of school and also claims that ELBO blundered the presidential election and constitutional referendum last spring.
Mason assumed all blame for the failed election and said his co-workers were asked to resign only because they served on his administration. "It was all my fault," Mason said.
"It's not so much a lack of communication as a lack of responsibility," Caruso said. "He was giving us reassurances up to the night before that we were going to have an election. He didn't ask for help, and as a result, we didn't give it to him."
But TCU Senate Vice President Melissa Carson said the entire ELBO body performed its functions irresponsibly. "The request for resignations was not personal, it was just because of their inability to do their jobs," Carson said.
Caruso agreed that ELBO messed up but felt that he should not be held personally responsible because Mason has assured him up until the night before the election that it would be held.
"I'm confident that I have a strong case," he said. "The CSL complaint does put forth some substantial claims, and I'm willing to take the time to address them and address my side."
Paper balloting elections will be held at the campus center to expedite the election process. To guard against double voting, the campus center will be the only voting station, as mandated by the Judiciary. Caruso is scheduled to run the elections alone but will be subject to surveillance by the Judiciary and Jodie Nealley, director of the student activities office. To ensure a fair election, the Judiciary is calling for regular progress reports from ELBO to the Judiciary.
Four students - five if Caruso is impeached - will be appointed to ELBO by the TCU Senate, Judiciary, and CSL and will receive formal training from administrators, possibly within the week. The new ELBO members will decide whether they want to pursue online elections in the future.
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Until now, ELBO was the only branch of student government that did not undergo formal job training. ELBO will have to report to an administrator if future problems arise; historically, it has not reported to any other branch of government.
Problems with ELBO are not new. "It's a thankless job," said Ben Lee, the Senate treasurer. "They were expected to work a miracle. Now they will be able to work as a more cohesive body."
Last spring's elections for positions in the Senate and Judiciary were uncontested, so ELBO never had to organize those elections. In other elections, however, such as the spring's presidential election, ELBO experienced numerous problems due to understaffing, and allegations of ballot fraud.
Caruso said the perennial problems stem from the fact that some ELBO members do not take pride in their work. "Elections Board is inherently a thankless job," he said. "People have to be willing to be hard-working and they have to appreciate their own hard work."
Many members of the Senate and Judiciary say they are concerned that freshmen have seen the worst in student government inefficiency. "If I was a freshman, I'd lose faith completely," said TCU Judiciary Vice-Chair Alison Clarke, one of the members of student government who filed the complaint against ELBO.
