Amplify wins 3 of 6 elections complaints

The 2004 Residence Halls Association elections were fraught with scandal and accusations of improper campaign behavior. \nBefore the dust settled, the Amplify ticket filed six charges of campaign impropriety against the election winner, the Connect ticket. As a result, Joe Reid, who won the position of vice president of internal affairs for Connect, was disqualified. \nCo-elections Commissioners Eric Hafner and Kara Kosowski disqualified Reid for sending an e-mail to the members of the McNutt Student Government, an organization of which Reid is currently president.\nRHA President-Elect John Palmer said he now has to appoint a student to fill Reid's position. But Palmer said he has decided to appoint Reid to the position from which he was disqualified. And Hafner said Palmer's decision is acceptable within the RHA Constitution, but the loophole will be evaluated later this year. \n"I am planning on appointing Joe Reid," Palmer said. "He's worked really hard to get where he is."\nReid apologized for his actions, saying he made a poor decision by sending the e-mail.\nAmplify Presidential Candidate Jon Greene said his party filed six complaints against Connect, though three of them were rejected by the elections commissioners. The three charges the commissioners upheld, Greene said, were chalking at Wright and Teter Quads and posting fliers without approval in Ashton Center. Greene said all of these actions are in violation of the election rules.\n"We would like to see something done because we would like to be in the (RHA) office," he said. "There was a question of whether or not there were votes obtained by Connect because of these infractions."\nPalmer confirmed the charges against the party. \n"The charges have already been filed and the sanctions handed down," Palmer said. \nHe said under the sanctions, each member of Connect will have to write a letter of apology to each of the three residence centers in question and are required to perform two hours of community service in each center. \n"The problem with RHA elections is that there is no universal policy," he said. \nPalmer said though the party made an effort to be informed about the policies of each center, they were not able to get a detailed list of all rules from each center. \nPalmer said his party appealed the decisions to the RHA Judicial Board, though the board ruled in favor of the elections commissioners' decision.\nPalmer said an Amplify supporter filed a harassment charge against a member of Connect, though it was later withdrawn.\nDespite all of the scandal, there is no love lost between the members of the opposing parties, Greene said.\n"We have straightened out everything," said Greene. "And we realize that there was a lot of a miscommunication during the campaigns."\nGreene said he thinks tensions between the parties were high because candidates on all sides had a passion for RHA.\n"Everybody involved cares so much for (RHA) and wanted to be involved in the organization next year," said Greene.\nGreene said he feels RHA will benefit under Connect's leadership.\n"RHA will continue on, and I am proud to say I have been part of this organization for three years, and I know that Connect will do an excellent job while in office."\n-- Contact staff writer Michael Zennie at mzennie@indiana.edu.