Student Assembly presidential candidates Brandon Del Pozo '96 andJim Rich '96 should both be penalized for violating early campaigning guidelines.
At the end of Winter term, Del Pozo and Rich both attended a meeting held by the Conservative Union At Dartmouth to seek CUAD's endorsement in the upcoming election on April 11.
An anonymous complaint was filed with the Election Advisory Committee on Friday charging that the two candidates violated election guidelines by starting to campaign before April 4.
Campaign rules prohibit appearing "before a student group for the purpose of influencing individuals to vote for a candidate," appearing "before a group to share one's opinion on issues" and "seeking an endorsement from a student or group of students" prior to the official start of the campaigning period.
In seeking CUAD's endorsement, Del Pozo and Rich clearly violated all of these rules.
And like Phil Ferrara '96, who was accused Thursday of campaigning early by seeking the endorsement of two sorority presidents, Del Pozo and Rich should be punished.
Although Del Pozo and Rich were invited by CUAD to address the group, their violations are not excusable. It is the responsibility of candidates to know campaigning rules and they should be punished if they violate any of them.
But Del Pozo and Rich should be punished less than Ferrara. Del Pozo and Rich were invited by CUAD to seek the group's endorsement, but Ferrara sought the endorsement of Greek leaders on his own initiative.
The Dartmouth recommended on Friday that Ferrara be forced to delay the start of his campaign by 36 hours. Given Del Pozo's and Rich's lesser offenses, they should be forced to start their campaigns 24 hours later than originally planned.
In addition, vice presidential candidates Kelii Opulauoho '96 and Bill Tovell '96, who both attended CUAD's meeting, should also be penalized 24 hours of campaign time.
Although no formal complaint has been filed against either Opulauoho or Tovell, they should suffer the same penalty as the two presidential candidates.
These sanctions leave vice-presidential candidates Aleph Henestrosa '96 and Scott Rowekamp '97 as the only candidates who can start their campaigns on time.
Unfortunately, the people who suffer the most from these campaign violations are the students, who will have less time to learn about the candidates and their platforms and will then have less time to make informed choices.
