Mississippi State University - Reveille Yearbook (Starkville, MS)

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CONTROVERSY: Homecoming Elections ' 78 Votes are counted in the SA office after a second election because of discrepancies in the previous election. margins. Homecoming was then held three days later with all the pageantry and related activities while most alumni and guests to the Mississippi State campus were unaware of the happenings the previous few days. The only complaint seemed to be participants who said they didn ' t have long enough to enjoy the Feeling of prominence when you are selected. Throughout the entire ordeal, MSU administrators re- fused to become involved, saying they trusted the stu- dents ' judgements. While some expected the big hand of establishment to fall upon the SA, it never did. Even President McComas was complimentary of the process which was carried out by the students. This in- stills a good feeling in me when I see student government run in such a fair and honest way, McComas said. Following the second election, the SA promised reforms in voting codes established by the SA Constitution. The SA said, We recognize that there are certain faults in the election code and the discrepancies found by the election commission are the fault of that code. The SA then reassured Mississippi State students that all elections were without corruption and all were held in all honesty. While many students felt better with such a reassurance, many more were unconcerned. The SA Judicial Council hears testimony in order to form a fair judgement about the election. 23

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Linney Causey listens intensely during the tension filled hearings. With administrators and staff of Mississippi State inac- tively looking on, the Mississippi State Student Associa- tion threw out the results of the 1978 homecoming election forcing a second election for all categories. The second election resulted in all but one of the earlier candidates being reselected to the homecoming court. The ordeal began when voting discrepancies arose on election day at one of the polling places. Three days fol- lowing the initial election, the SA Election Commissioner declared the recent certifications of the homecoming elec- tion invalid. The rescission of the certification began a process which was the first to ever happen at an institu- tion of higher learning in Mississippi. A MSU student notified the SA office about mid-day on the day of the election about poll workers whom were reportedly influencing voters. The SA then sent the assist- ant election commissioner to the polling place in question where he, Observed some things that weren ' t supposed to be happening. He then removed the two pollworkers at the location. Following questioning of the workers and the student who had allegedly been influenced, the election was declared invalid. But according to the SA Constitution, any rescission must then be approved by the SA Judicial Council. To further complicate things, neither the Judicial Council, the Election Commission, or the Election Com- missioner had been approved by the SA Senate. In a has- tily called meeting the morning before the Judicial Council hearings the Senate rubber-stamped all the forementioned groups and individuals. That afternoon, the Council heard over two hours of tes- timony involving the voting discrepancies. The assistant commissioner testified he heard a poll worker tell a voter to Just vote for this candidate. The pollworker then said she was not trying to influence anyone, she was Just reading the ballot. The workers at the box were accepting votes written on plain sheets of paper instead of the standard pre-printed forms after depleting their supply of official forms. With only one official ballot available, workers were reportedly reading the names of the candidates to voters who were submitting the unofficial ballot. Pre-election campaigning before the first election went on as usual. While the SA Constitution makes it illegal for workers to influence voters, the commissioner asked the Council to uphold the rescission because, Reasonable doubt exists about the operation of the box. Further investigation of the election revealed discrepancies. At least three students were shown to have voted more than once during the election. Two student ' s names appeared twice on the voting list at one precinct. One stu- dent ' s name appeared once at the beginning of one list and midway through the list at another box. Two students admitted to voting twice in the election and SA President Rosenbaum said the election was unfair in this manner. No charges were ' brought against any of the students involved in the hearing. Representatives of a Greek organization appeared before the council and asked that any sort of special elec- tion be postponed due to the, Time, money and effort involved by the candidates in their election. Also, Undo, hardship could result from a new election. The council then responded that any reform in election procedures would begin, With this election. The council further stated it would not tolerate any voting discrepan- cies and declared the election void. Then on the Wednesday before homecoming Missis- sippi State students returned to the polls to vote again for class maids, the alumni representatives, Mr. and Miss MSU and the homecoming queen. All of these positions had been selected in the first election. That evening at 10:15, the Mississippi State Student Association released the official winners of the second homecoming election. While most winners in the first election were jubilant over winning the second election, one young lady was left out of the happiness. Except for her, all the other winners merely increased their winning 22

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CENTENNIAL HOMECOMING October 14, 1978 Although the recall of the homecoming elections the week before the game filled the campus with tension, Mississippi State ' s decisive victory over Florida State cleared the way for a festive weekend. Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity captured first place with their display depicting the university ' s theme for the event, A Noble Past — A Promising Future. All — F. Fiiulk 24