According to the board's ruling, Thompson was campaigning too close to a computer being used to vote at a fraternity party on March 17. While Thompson denied the allegations, it is obvious that someone - whether at Thompson's request or not - was attempting to influence voters.
Thompson's penalty for the violation amounts to little more than a slap on the wrist. His ticket - consisting of himself and MSA Vice President Sarah Chopp - was given one violation point, bringing its total number to two. The other point was given because Thompson placed a poster on glass, a violation many MSA candidates incur durring the election season. In order to be disqualified from the election, a ticket must receive five points.
There is an obvious difference between influencing voters and merely causing potential damage to a glass surface. The Election Code was not designed to account for electronic voting - when this method was added last year, too much haste led to a failure to fix all of its problems. The Election Code is in dire need of reworking - both to clear up the vagueness that plagues it and to ensure that future acts in clear violation of election ethics are not passed on without due punishment.
When it rendered its decision, the Penalty Elections Board made recommendations for changes to the Election Code, including eliminating students' ability to vote off campus. While this may eliminate some problems, it would severely hamper many students' ability to vote at their convenience - negating the intent of establishing online voting. The assembly should make it possible for all students voting to be aware of what the rules regarding their ballots are. Including a brief summary of the election rules on both paper and electronic ballots would inform students about the standards candidates must adhere to.
In addition, the assembly must address the problems that surface when interpreting the code. For instance, the code defines an electronic polling site as "... any computer in a Campus Computing or Rescomp site." But computers in off-campus locations still have access to voting - begging the question of what category these computers fall under. Further, MSA should increase the severity of the penalties for serious violations.
MSA representatives should also take heed of these election rules. The assembly suffers from a lack of credibility among students - a problem that situations like the recent investigation only aggravate. If representatives want the assembly to be taken seriously, it must make sure that it takes its own rules seriously.
While online voting has benefited many students and helped increase voter turnout, it does have drawbacks. MSA must address these problems not only to better its own image, but to prevent its work from being overshadowed by scandal.