Despite appeals, committee gives Renner/Nagel the win
By COLLEEN McCARTHY
Associate News Editor
The Saint Mary's Board of Governance Election Appeals board denied an appeal filed Monday by the presidential ticket of Emily Koelsch and Rachele Rodarte in response to the decision of the Election Committee Sunday night to nullify the results of Friday's election and award victory to the ticket of Crissie Renner and Michelle Nagle.
The decision of the Election Appeals board rendered the Renner/Nagle ticket victorious. The decision is final.
"The board decided that in an event of a tie, to revert to the election results from Monday," said Nancy Midden, student body president.
Monday's election featured four tickets with Renner/Nagle taking 43 percent of the vote and Koelsch/Rodarte earning 37 percent of the vote. In order for a ticket to be declared victorious and not need a run-off election, the ticket must earn 50 percent plus one vote. However, the Election Appeals board decided to take the raw vote from Monday and award victory to the ticket that received the plurality of the votes, said Midden.
"We did discuss that there were four tickets involved in Monday's election and it wasn't just between the two tickets that made it to the run-off," said Gina Gueresso, a member of the Election Appeals board.
"However, we don't know how those people would have voted if they hadn't had the other options or if they would have abstained so we made the decision we thought was best."
"We looked at the vote from Monday's initial election and who had the majority of the votes. We decided that is who ended up winning."
Made up of three students who are seniors, the Elections Appeals board was without one of its members Monday night who was out of the country.
However, Elections Commissioner Brigid Heffernan submitted Gueresso's name as a replacement and the Board of Governance executive board approved the appointment Monday night. Members of the election commission are "knowledgeable of the constitution and have the background to make informed decisions," said Midden.
The Koelsch/Rodarte ticket initially secured victory in a second run-off election Friday, carrying 51 percent, after the first run-off election between the two tickets on Wednesday was declared a tie. The student government constitution does not have bylaws regarding what to do in the event of a tie. Student activities director, Georgeanna Rosenbush authorized Friday's election.
"It is a matter of how you interpret the bylaws," said Rosenbush. "My interpretation could be different than yours. We have a system of checks and balances in place and the Elections Committee disagreed with my decision and met to consider the appeal made by Crissie."
"I support their decision."
Renner appealed the decision to have a third election Sunday night before the 48 hour deadline for election results to be official was imposed.
"I was informed two hours before the deadline that the decision to hold a third election Friday was not made by the appropriate committee according to the election bylaws," said Renner. "I wasn't seeking a victory, I was more concerned with upholding the rights of student government."
"All I wanted was for the Election Committee to decide if it was right to have a third election and if that was their decision, then so be it. But I wanted to know. This wasn't the kind of victory we had hoped for, though."
Renner said the election Friday was also not valid because constitution bylaws state that a separate voting place for off-campus students must be provided and this was not done.
The Koelsch/Rodarte ticket filed an appeal Monday, stating that the decision to use the raw votes from the Monday and Wednesday elections was not a valid representation of the wishes of the student body. The appeal also stated that if Renner's appeal was submitted after 7:45 p.m. on Sunday, it was invalid. The Koelsch/Rodarte appeal cited section D.4.j of the Student Government Association Election Bylaws that states "official results will be confirmed within 48 hours of the closing of elections."
Voting ended Friday at 7 p.m. and the tickets were informed of the results by 7:30 p.m., therefore if the results were official as of Sunday at 7:30 p.m., the Renner appeal would be invalid.
Rodarte was skeptical of the Renner appeal.
"Emily and I don't believe in the appeal," said Rodarte. "Not having provisions in the constitution in case of a tie was a lack of foresight on the part of student government. We feel we are basically being punished for that. Because this is something that none of the tickets could control, we don't see this as being very fair."
The two tickets met Monday morning to discuss options, after which Koelsch and Rodarte filed their appeal.
At the meeting, Renner said she suggested appointing Koelsch to be her vice president since her running mate, Michelle Nagle was ready to step down because she felt it would be in the best interest of the student body. Nagle did not file the appeal with Renner.
However, the Koelsch/Rodarte ticket did not want to melt the two tickets into one.
"We decided that if we take office, we are taking office together or not at all," said Rodarte. "We chose to run with each other because we feel we complement each other well. We respect Crissie's decision and she respected ours."
With combining the two tickets no longer an option, Koelsch/Rodarte filed their appeal Monday.
After learning of the Election Appeals board's decision on Tuesday morning, Rodarte expressed disbelief.
"Emily and I are pretty much shocked," said Rodarte. "We never ever would have thought this would be the final decision. We are upset that 20 percent of the Saint Mary's student body was discounted by using Monday's vote.
"We can't understand why Monday's voting tally was used and we don't think it is a fair representation of the wishes of the Saint Mary's student body and what they wanted for student government."
Gueresso disagreed that the voice of the student body wasn't heard in the board's decision.
"I would ask those people that think their voices weren't heard why wasn't the voice of the student body heard in Monday's election?" said Gueresso.
Renner believes the student body's voice was not disregarded in the situation.
"I believe the student body's voice was heard," said Renner. "There were obviously two strong tickets and the committee had to weight what they thought was the best option. It's unfortunate that there wasn't anything in the bylaws about what to do in case of a tie but it was up to the committee to make the decision if it wasn't in the bylaws."
For Koelsch, the situation is disappointing.
"I'm very disappointed with how this was handled," said Koelsch.
"Neither Rachele or I were treated with respect. We weren't even informed that the appeals board was meeting tonight. I can't see how the student body will be happy with this decision because as far as we are concerned, the interests of the student body are not represented by tonight's decision."
Midden disagreed with the assessment.
"In light of a very difficult situation, I think student government handled the situation with grace and maturity," she said. "I think they did a phenomenal job and made well-informed decisions."
Although Nagle was not available for comment, Renner said early Tuesday morning that Nagle will be vice president.
"Our biggest concern is to do what is in the best interest of the student body," said Renner.
Rodarte and Koelsch are investigating their options.
"We don't know if we can do anything because the board's decision is final," said Rodarte. "We wish Crissie luck next year. Our fate has been completely changed in the past 24 hours and we don't know what our options are."
All News Stories for Tuesday, February 8, 2000
