Voting for the first round of the SGA presidential election was thrown out and a new election will be held today for which candidate Neo Morake '09 is removed from the ballot. The decision was made by Election Board Wednesday night in response to a grievance concerning the placement of Morake posters on the window of a non-residential building.

According to Election Board chair Christy Boeckholt '08, Election Board received the grievance via e-mail at 10:23 p.m. Wednesday. It asked whether a Morake poster taped to the windows of Bucksbaum violated election rules. Election Board called an emergency meeting and determined that the poster was a violation.

The rule in question is Bylaw Article III Section 1.d. According to the bylaw, "campaign materials are not allowed on ... any doors or windows of non-residential buildings on campus ... Candidates forfeit their status as official candidates if they are involved in any way in the violation of this bylaw."

In response to a grievance in last year's vice-president of Academic Affairs election, Administrative Coordinator and Election Board member Nora Skelly '08 said that candidates this year were asked to sign a statement acknowledging that they understood and committed to comply with the SGA Bylaws governing elections.

The poster in question was a large image of Morake's posted on a south side window of Bucksbaum overlooking the building's courtyard. The poster was up on Monday between 4 a.m. and noon.

According to Skelly, this case was more clear-cut than previous cases. "We were fortunate in this case that there was no ambiguity that this was a violation," said Skelly. "In this case, an Election Board member had seen evidence of this happening and informed the candidate that it was a violation."

Morake, while disappointed with the outcome of the decision, acknowledged that the poster constituted a violation.

Morake confirmed that members of Joint Board informed her Monday that the poster was a violation and advised that she remove it but assured her that it would not negatively impact her campaign.

She said she wishes she had not received mixed messages from Election Board members but acknowledged that the poster constituted a violation. "It sucks that I was reassured by members of Election Board that it was not a problem," she said. "But, no, it's valid."

Jeff Sinick '09, Election Board member and Films chair, said that when assessing the legitimacy of grievances, Election Board has little discretion in interpreting the rules of the Constitution. "We interpret the Constitution very strictly. It is not Election Board's job to interpret or influence the elections in any way," he said.

Boeckholt explained the impact of losing official candidacy. "[The impact] depends when it happens in the process. Typically they can't participate in open forums. We also remove their statements and their name from the ballot," Boeckholt said. "They don't get any more publicity."

While she has the opportunity to appeal Election Board's decision to Joint Board, Morake said she would not do so since it would unnecessarily drag out the election process. "I doubt that people would want to do voting next week," Morake said.

In the races for Vice President of Student Affairs and Vice President of Academic Affairs, John Burrows '10 and Julie Hoye '09 won with 55 percent and 87 percent respectively.

Students can vote in the second presidential election all day today.

--additional reporting by Abby Rapoport