Citing contractual problems with its online voting company and miscommunication between its four members, the Elections Board (ELBO) announced late last night that today's online election of eight freshman senators and one member of the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Judiciary will be shortened by 12 hours.
The election will be administered by iBallot.Com from noon today until midnight. Voting was scheduled to begin at midnight last night and continue for 24 hours.
According to a statement from the TCU Senate Executive Board, ELBO said yesterday that there was a "good possibility" that the election would be cancelled. But after negotiations between the Senate and ELBO last night, Senate President Eric Greenberg said senators believed that the election would be held today, but "by no means has it been confirmed."
Shane Mason, the ELBO chairman, said yesterday he was "extremely confident" the elections would take place. Once ELBO sorts out paperwork with iBallot.Com this morning, he said, the company will send an e-mail to eligible voters with instructions for casting their virtual ballots. "I don't think there will be any problems," Mason said, "although there is always something that can go wrong."
If something does go wrong, and ELBO's original predictions materialize, the Senate will be forced to postpone its annual retreat, scheduled for this weekend, until freshman senators are chosen. Greenberg said a postponed election would also push back the election of trustee representatives.
Yesterday, Jon Gold, one of the freshman candidates for a Senate seat, criticized ELBO for failing to inform students about the status of the elections. "ELBO hasn't lifted a finger to tell the candidates what's going on, or that the election might be postponed," he wrote in an e-mail. "This lack of organization and communication has given me doubts about ELBO's ability to run elections."
ELBO's lack of organization seemed at the root of the problems. At about 7 p.m. last night, ELBO Treasurer Valentino Caruso said he knew nothing about today's elections and was unable to contact other ELBO members.
Miscommunication also prevented ELBO from placing its usual advertisement in The Tufts Daily, which typically includes a photo and 50-word statement from each candidate. Although ELBO said the ad did not run because of poor planning, Mason said ELBO is not required to advertise the candidates, and the information that would have appeared in print will be available online at the election website.
