some messed up stuff
DEMOCRACY SUBVERTED AT UCSD

April 11, 2003 - The voice of the student body at the University of California, San Diego was silenced today when an elections committee of seven members voted 4 to 3 to reverse the decision of approximately 3000 student voters in a process rife with procedural inconsistencies, clear conflicts of interest, and egregious disregard for the integrity of the elections.

The Students First! slate, a coalition of 15 candidates representing a diverse variety of student groups at UCSD, was disqualified this evening immediately before the announcement of the election results. Election results showed that the students at UCSD had voted 11 of the 15 Students First! candidates into office. However, the Associated Students elections committee invalidated all votes for Students First! candidates when it decided to disqualify the entire slate.

Prior to the elections, many groups and individuals on campus worked against Students First!, which swept the AS elections in the previous year. One member who lost in a race for a vice presidency to Students First! in the 2002 elections sat on this year's elections committee. Two other members on the elections committee this year had supported the Action slate which lost to Students First! in the same election. The California Review, the Conservative Union, the Freedom Alliance, and the Marksmanship Club, which ran an unsuccessful conservative slate that lost to Students First! in the 2002 elections, created candidates and student organizations intended to confuse and defraud voters.

Throughout the elections process, Students First! was subjected to harassment, spying, and defamation. Fake Students First! flyers, using stolen logos, accused the coalition of hating white students, Greeks, the military, and of being un-American. Student First! candidates were subjected to racial slurs, called communists and fascists, and followed around campus.

Despite these difficult conditions, 11 of 15 Students First! candidates won their offices by vote, only to be disqualified by four members of the AS elections committee. Never in the entire history of UCSD has an elections committee disqualified an entire slate.

There are no hanging chads here, but there is a small group of politically biased individuals who ignored all laws, procedures, and reason to overturn an election. UCSD's 2003 AS elections were not about candidates or issues, but about libel and voter fraud. Is this democracy at work, or has it been subverted? Is this Florida and Palm Beach right here in Southern California?

Do not let the student voice be silenced. Do not let democracy be betrayed.

Educate yourself and take action now. This could happen anywhere; it is time to organize.

this really pissed me off...and it should piss you off too, cuz it could happen to you too. i dont usually use my blog to publicize movements and stuff...but this is something that i'm heavily involved with and feel strongly about. my voice was silenced and invalidated by 4 people, and this is not right. this is not a case of the people who i voted for losing through valid voting...its a matter of these people winning through popular vote, but losing by being disqualified. if u wanna know how u can help, or get more info...email me or instant message me. stay tuned...we'll be back after these messages >=O