Copies are available all across campus for just a few cents, but a handful of copies of campaign flyers ended up costing more than $100 for one candidate in the race to become the next Student Association comptroller.

On Tuesday, the SA Board of Elections and Membership fined Rosslyn Ortega $140 for placing campaign materials too close to a polling place. Ortega’s flyers and handbills were found in the Office of Multicultural Affairs in the Schine Student Center and in Haven Residence Hall, said BEM Chairwoman Jessie Cordova.

Ortega could not be reached for comment on the charges.

Because SA elections are held using an online polling system, university computer clusters and students’ personal computers are considered polling places. Candidates are prohibited from posting materials near computers during the election so that the materials don’t influence students’ choices when they go to the polls, said SA President Andrew Thomson.

‘It’s to prevent a voter from walking up to the polls and being persuaded at the last minute by a piece of campaign literature,’ Thomson said.

Starting at 12 a.m. on the day the polls open, candidates are prohibited from campaigning or leaving campaign materials posted in Schine and Goldstein student centers, computer clusters, Bird Library, Huntington Beard Crouse Hall, residence halls and the courtyard between Marion and Kimmel halls, according to SA election codes.

Cordova said she found four flyers and six handbills in the Office of Multicultural Affairs that were visible from the Schine computer cluster across the hall. She told the BEM members that she had asked the Multicultural Affairs staff to remove the materials found there on Friday, but they forgot to take them down, Cordova said.

Ortega’s opponent in the comptroller race, assistant comptroller Maggie Misztal, said she removed four flyers posted on the 11th floor of Haven Residence Hall that were reported to her by an SA assembly member who lives on that floor. Even though she officially reported the violation, Misztal said she isn’t making a point of pointing out her opponent’s mistakes.

‘I’m looking to run an ethical campaign,’ Misztal said. ‘I’m not concerning myself with her campaign.’

Ortega declined her right to appeal BEM’s finding to SA’s Judicial Review Board, Cordova said.

It is unclear how much time Ortega will have to pay the fine, Cordova said. If she wins, she must pay the fine before she is allowed to take office, but SA officials are still uncertain about what rules apply if she loses, said Comptroller Erin Maghran. Ortega indicated that she would pay the fine by the end of the week, Cordova said.

Thomson said this type of violation occurs in almost every election and that he was brought up on charges when he was running for the presidency last fall. The incident, which involved campaign materials found in the Schine atrium, was different because Thomson did know how the materials got there, he said.

Published on November 5, 2003 at 12:00 pm