Frosh voting has strong start

It looks like one trip to the ballots will be enough for the Class of 2002. Almost one-fifth of Penn's 2,400 freshmen turned out yesterday to elect class board members and fill the eight Undergraduate Assembly spots reserved for freshman. Freshmen can also cast ballots today. After last year's election had to be revoked and redone, the Nominations and Elections Committee has taken precautions to ensure that this year's freshman election does not violate the rules governing elections. And while several candidates gave mixed reviews to the NEC, which runs student government elections, none of the complaints even came close to reaching last year's level. The NEC violated its Fair Practices Code last year by failing to include several freshman candidates' statements in the advertisement in The Daily Pennsylvanian. This year, the NEC tightened the rules and tried to better explain them to candidates to avoid making the same mistake twice. Candidates also handed in their statements along with their petitions at the candidates meeting on October 2. Before publishing the statements, the NEC counted and reviewed them to ensure accuracy. "This year's setup went more smoothly than ever, as the first day of voting was relatively problem-free," said NEC Chairperson Neha Champaneria, a Wharton senior. At the initial meeting, the NEC announced that campaigning and elections will be closely monitored and receipts of all campaign spending will be collected following the close of elections today. Candidates have a $35 spending limit; past elections have seen candidates disqualified for failing to turn in spending forms. The NEC will hold the FPC hearing tomorrow after voting is complete. Any charges filed against candidates will be voted on at the hearing. Voting began yesterday at Kings Court/English House, Stouffer Triangle, Class of 1920 Commons and Hill College House. Of the 36 candidates, 23 are running for eight undergraduate assembly positions, seven for class board president, three for class board vice president, one for secretary and one for the vice president for corporate sponsorship. There are two candidates for College representative and one for Wharton representative. There are no candidates running for Nursing or Engineering representative. These positions will be filled by either write in or nomination. But after the first day of voting, candidates had mixed feelings about the way the things are going and the way the NEC is handling the elections. Presidential candidate Adam Mait was concerned about the election process. "My classmates are voting under the veil of ignorance, because the election process does not inform voters of who they are voting for without including candidate speeches," said Mait. "The NEC has been very accessible, but I wanted to see more publicity." But College freshman and UA candidate Meredith Wepner praised the NEC for being clear about the rules governing the election. Wharton representative candidate Ming Fang had a slightly different opinion of the NEC. "The NEC could have done a better job publicizing the election and informing and attracting candidates," Fang said. "I think everything has been fair thus far, and based on what I've seen, there haven't been any violations of the FPC."

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