Investigation of bloc voting finds evidence is inconclusive

An Election Board investigation of reports of Bruins United members bloc voting at sororities found that evidence was inconclusive, just hours before election results were announced.

The complaint, which former Undergraduate Students Association Council General Representative Jason Smith filed today, alleged that members of the Bruins United slate went to sorority houses Monday and passed around a laptop for students to vote with a list of the slate’s candidates. Smith, a fifth-year world arts and cultures student and member of LET’S ACT!, submitted two witness accounts from different sororities as evidence with the complaint.

The USAC Election Board did not find the complaint to be valid because the complaint and evidence were submitted more than 24 hours after the violation allegedly took place, according to the official Election Board complaint finding form.

USAC Election Board chair Dana Pede said the board has the 24-hour policy so it can address violations in a timely manner.

“However, if we find out about something that calls into question the fairness of the entire process, it would have been something we would have had to take into consideration,” she said.

The board investigated the claims and did not find conclusive evidence to call the fairness of elections into question. The board talked to the witnesses from the sororities and reached out to the Bruins United candidates to hear their sides of the story, Pede said.

Bruins United was founded nine years ago by a coalition of Greek students, Hillel, Bruin Republicans and Bruin Democrats, according to Daily Bruin archives.

Smith said two people approached him, saying that members of their sorority had told them to vote for Bruins United candidates and that two laptops were set up in their houses for this purpose.

Smith said he was “frustrated” by the Election Board’s decision.

“We have all these testimonials about BU bloc voting in elections,” he said. “But it’s kind of like no one is letting this story to be heard.”

Ken Myers, co-chair of Bruins United, said the first he heard of the allegations of bloc voting was in the Election Board office this afternoon.

“(Bloc voting) is not something we condone or encourage,” he said. “We did not push that at all from a party standpoint.”

Smith filed a similar complaint earlier this week alleging that members of the Bruins United slate bloc voted in fraternities. The Election Board reviewed the complaint, and found that evidence was inconclusive.