At approximately 1 a.m. this morning, Union President Ben Brandzel '03 filed a case in the Union Judiciary (UJ) on behalf of David Singer '05, to invalidate all the elections held last week. This includes the presidential election, in which Union Treasurer Joshua Brandfon '05 defeated Union Advocate Josh Sugarman '05 by one vote. Brandzel is arguing that students abroad, such as Singer, were wrongly prevented from voting.According to Brandzel, students have historically been able to vote while studying abroad, saying last year's UJ decision in the case of Tapper vs. Herman did not change this. The decision made running for Union government offices while abroad invalid. Former Union Secretary Adam Herman '04 attested that students have not been able to vote from abroad for at least the past two years.

Brandzel said the votes of those abroad would have made a significant difference in the election, especially in the vote for Union president. "The margin was significantly smaller than the disenfranchised population," he said.

"This is a very serious case and the implications are very dire," Brandzel added. "These votes were unjustly silences and they deserve a voice."

"The question is what is the core nature of citizenship in the Union," Brandzel said, adding that students currently abroad will be paying the Student Activities Fee while the candidates elected now are in office.

Union Secretary and Elections Commissioner Ana Yoselin Bugallo '03 said one option other than a UJ case would have been to reopen the vote just to students abroad. "A compromise would have been reached between the person filing the suit and the elections commissioners, regarding opening up the elections again," she said.

"We looked at the Tansey-Tapper case that was heard last year by the UJ," Bugallo said. "We also consulted former Secretary Herman, and one of the former justices who was involved in making the (Tapper) decision, and they all agreed that study abroad students were not considered eligible to vote."

"We also found out that study abroad students have not been allowed to vote since at least last year," Bugallo added.

Bugallo said to rerun an election, the UJ must rule within five academic days of the election results.

Bugallo said she is concerned about the effect on new elections. "At this point in elections, it would be detrimental to the Student Union because of the tight election schedule that we are currently following," she said.

In another problem election, electronic tallying issues led to a rerun of the Allocation Board (A-board) election yesterday, ending noon today. A possible Union Judiciary (UJ) case may be filed regarding the election, while another case has delayed the release of the results of the race for Union Secretary.

With regard to his close win in the presidential race, Brandfon said, "Oftentimes, people are apathetic towards elections because they feel their voice won't have an impact. This election has demonstrated the value of democracy and the value of each and every individual vote. I put a lot of hard work into my campaign between the primaries and final election, and was ecstatic when I found out that my efforts had paid off."

Sugarman declined to comment.

As president, Brandfon proposes to reform micromanagement policies to allow club leaders more freedom to run events. Recently, Brandfon has been working to transform the old bookstore into a recreation center with pool tables, televisions, and game systems.

"It is an exciting opportunity to add an aspect to student life that is severely lacking," Brandfon said. "We must ensure that Usdan remains a student center with space for clubs and organizations to hold meetings, have offices and hold events."

Brandfon said he also wants food available 24 hours. Brandfon said that although the Shapiro Campus Center is advertised as a 24-hour student center, food is not always available. "If we wanted a 24-hour library, we would have asked for that," he said. "It's time to pressure the administration to keep their promises by keeping the cafe open throughout the night, and by installing vending machines that are accessible to all students."

Although the A-board election was not as close as the presidential one, it too had problems and had to be rerun.

The A-board, the election for which is being rerun, is composed of six student representatives - the treasurer, the senator for racial minority students and four other elected officials. During the first 18 minutes of the A-board primary elections, the online tallying system allowed students only one vote, instead of the four they were supposed to receive. Voters could not log into the system again to cast their additional three votes.

Union Elections Commissioners said that A-board may make new posters publicizing the dates of the election. Also, each candidate may send an additional two unsolicited e-mails to students.

A letter from the commissioners stated, "We were unaware of the substantial impact this oversight would have on the outcome of the election. The elections commissioners are truly sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused. In fairness to all allocations board candidates, we must rerun this primary election in order to ensure an accurate account of the vote."

A-board candidate Ian Sager '06 was four votes away from making it into the final elections. Sager was unable to vote for himself and knows students who planed to vote for him. "I am frustrated because we put so much into this election," Sager said. "We know a lot of the student body does not vote in the first place. When you have to do this again, even less people will vote."

A-board candidate Omer Rosenhand '06 advanced to the final elections and said that while the situation is unfortunate and frustrating, he values a true election that represents the opinion of the student-body. "I would rather see a fair than flawed outcome, even at the cost of disappointment," he said.

Unlike Sager, Rosenhand said he believes there will be a good voter turnout. "In regards to the prognosis that voter turnout will not be as promising as the first time around," he said, "I have faith that students will prove these predictions false, and that the second round will reflect more accurately the views of the student body."

In the election for Union vice president, Grad Quad Senator Ken Gantz '04 defeated Daniel Mauer '05 by 160 votes, 453 to 293.

As vice president, Gantz said he will work for the student body and serve as chair during Union senate meetings. "I am extremely thrilled and excited to assume the role of vice president of the Student Union," he said. "I am looking forward to running efficient senate meetings in an atmosphere that, first and foremost, makes students and organizations in attendance feel welcome by their representative body."

Gantz wants the Union government and the Department of Student Life to improve the quality of student life by organizing more social events. In addition to planning a "Red Sox vs. Yankees" party next semester, Gantz said he is trying to repeal the 2:00 a.m. curfew for events on campus.

"I will support more programs that foster embracing diversity on campus, strive to increase the cohesiveness between clubs on campus, and enhance the involvement of students in leadership roles," Gantz said. "I will continue to work toward converting the old bookstore space into a much needed recreation center, as well as obtaining a rock-climbing wall for the Gosman Gym."

In the election for Union treasurer, East Quad Senator Andrei Khots '05 defeated Costas Haniz '04 by 140 votes, 487 to 347.

As treasurer, Khots said his main goals would be delivering timely checks to clubs and improving the Union financial system. He said he wants to ease the allocation funding process for clubs and organizations.

"An Allocations Board member will sit down with the club before they come to the Allocation Board and will be able to find out how much the club really needs, what to say at the meeting, suggest alternative sources of funding before the meeting, explain rules and procedures, and also sit down with them before the meeting to clarify the procedure," Khots said.

Khots said he wants to provide clubs with more adequate funding and conduct workshops for club leaders to publicize available resources through the Union government. To improve the financial system, Khots said he wants clubs to declare what money they have upon applying for allocation funding. "This will award clubs and see how honorably their money is spent," he said.

In the election for Student Union Representative to the Board of Trustees, Alissa Piasetski '05 defeated Mitch Balsam '05 by 9 votes, 372 to 363. Ayam Bahnasi '05, who was running as a write-in candidate on the ballot came in third place in the primary elections with 109 votes.

Piasetski said she intends to prioritize the building of more campus housing and minimizing the number of first-year forced triples. She said she also wants the Brandeis Medical Corps to have its ambulance.

"The Board of Trustees' chief goals include maintaining the quality of student life at Brandeis while staying true to the University's founding principles," Piasetski said. "I plan on pursuing those same ends, with social justice and student needs in mind."

Bahnasi, the popular write-in candidate, said regarding his relative success, "I credit it to (Student Representative to the Board of Trustees) Ebony Bishop '04. She encouraged me to run. I just went from door to door and other quads telling people about my campaign. I had a Web site and everything. I was convinced to run a bit too late, after the deadline for submitting the names."

- Michaela May'03 and Matthew Bettinger'05 contributed to this article.