Trustee primary votes in, ballots tallied early

Candidates running in the class trustee primary election received a memo on April 11 stating that results were tabulated April 10, although the deadline written on the ballots said they were due April 12 at 5 p.m..

Anna Glass and Michael Murphy, college seniors, were chosen as the two primary candidates. Noah Bopp, college senior and Student Senator, was chosen as the alternate. Ten candidates ran.

Secretary of College Robert Haslun said that the original deadline his office made was April 10. The deadline, however, was moved to April 12, and that date and time were printed on the ballots. Haslun said that there was a "memory lapse in my office," concerning the change in deadline.

According to Haslun, Bopp contacted him to inform him that results were announced to candidates before the election was officially over.

"We had two choices. One was to run the election again, or see if anything happened," Haslun said.

Haslun said he waited until the official last day of the elections to see if students would return additional ballots. The five ballots that were turned in between April 10 and 12, according to Haslun, did not alter the results of the election. Haslun said he believes that the results are valid.

Bopp said, "Two days were technically lost...in which anybody could have done last minute campaigning." Bopp said that when he spoke to him, Haslun admitted that his office had made a mistake.

One candidate, who asked to remain anonymous, said, "I think it's presumptuous of them to send it early, but I don't think it's a major deal."

About winning the primary election, Glass said, "I am happy that both Mike and I are the finalists. I guess at this point I will be just as happy if Mike wins next fall because he will do a great job."

Both Glass and Murphy work together in the admissions office. Glass said, "We have a good sense of where the both of us stand on issues."

Murphy said, "I'm excited about the opportunity to continue participating at a college after I graduate and am far away from Oberlin." He also said, "I couldn't be any happier with Anna winning too."

The final vote for class trustee will occur in early September. Classes 1995, 1996 and 1997 will be voting in the election.