Elections have recent history of violations

IU Student Association elections began yesterday and have been running smoothly so far. But anything can happen before the complaint submission deadline at 5 p.m. Thursday.\nAlthough Elections Coordinator Keith Johnson said he thinks this year's election will continue to run smoothly, current IUSA President Alex Shortle said sometimes tickets get carried away campaigning.\n"It's tough to spend three or four months of your life with all your energy focused on campaign," he said. "You spend that much time (campaigning so) you really want to win. The idea of being in student government can overtake good, honest decisions."\nTo the winners' dismay, dishonest decisions can sometimes overturn election results.\nAccording to the Elections Code, tickets can receive sanction points if valid complaints are filed against them. Violations that receive points include posting more than four flyers on a single wooden kiosk, any act that prevents a voter from voting, spending more than the specified spending limit and falsifying financial statements.\nAny one ticket cannot receive more than eight sanction points, but "upon the accumulation of eight sanction points, an individual candidate, executive group or campaign ticket shall be disqualified and have all votes previously credited to that campaign discounted from the election results," according to the code.\nTwo years ago, the Big Red ticket won the election with 355 more votes than Crimson. After the election, Crimson and Fusion, another ticket, filed a complaint saying Big Red exceeded its spending limit when it bought promotional T-shirts and door hangers. The Election Commission reviewed the complaint and handed the win to Crimson after deeming that Big Red had violated the code. \n"I don't believe (spending) was an issue (Big Red officials) were trying to lie about," Shortle said. "They spent too much money and didn't realize it."\nBig Red appealed to the Student Body Supreme Court, which upheld the Elections Commission's decision. Chief Justice Brian Clifford said the court chose to hear that case because disqualification was a severe sanction.\n"Basically we were worried about the legitimacy of the government," he said. "Disqualification of any person or party is a grave decision that must be taken with utmost concern."\nClifford said the Supreme Court tries not to interfere in elections unless something goes seriously wrong or the legitimacy of the election is at stake, and it usually doesn't overturn the Elections Commission's decision.\nLast year, the Kirkwood ticket challenged the election's victor, Shortle's ticket, Vote for Pedro, to a run-off election. However, Clifford said there had been disagreement in Congress about whether the run-off provision had been removed from the Elections Code.\nPrior to the election, the tickets agreed not to hold a run-off if needed, Shortle said. After losing the election by 50 votes, Kirkwood filed a complaint against Vote for Pedro to hold a run-off election. But, Kirkwood filed the complaint after the deadline, so the Elections Commissions did not review it. \nKirkwood brought a case against the commission to the Student Body Supreme Court. The court sided with the commission's right to refuse a complaint after deadline.\nElection Commissioner Jason Growe said neither ticket has received any penalty points.\n"We haven't actually received any formal complaints," he said. "With that said, we don't go out and look for things."\nGrowe said he doesn't think either ticket will break the rules by the end of elections Wednesday.\n"Both tickets have gone to great lengths to make sure they are within the code," he said.