Greer Hauptman '05 was sworn in as Charles River Quad Senator as a result of the Union Judiciary ruling authorizing her election despite its controversial conception. The Union Judiciary voted 5-0 in Hauptman's favor.According to Union Judiciary Justice Mark Samburg, Hauptman ran in the first round of elections as a write-in candidate and, consequently, beat the "abstain" votes. In the final round, according to Elections Committee representative Albert Cahn '07, however, she was beaten by abstentions, 27 to 18.

"We had a relatively simple issue," Samburg said. "Someone was officially told they won the election and then officially untold they won the election and rather than being able to deal with that issue, instead we had a four hour hearing and questions of whether evidence was admissible, objections about lines of questioning and ridiculous rants of Latin."

Union Secretary Danny Silverman '05 failed to disclose the results of the second voting round.

Additionally, an anonymous source said that residents of 567 South Street were disenfranchised from voting.

Hauptman's representative Bryan Lober '06 said that the Elections Committee erred by holding the second voting round during the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur-thereby isolating the Jewish population from voting, allowing graduate students to vote and allowing the Elections Commissioner to overstep his bounds by decertifying an already certified candidate. The Union Judiciary sustained all but the first claim.

"I believe what the UJ was really concerned about was the determination of when the secretary could or could not step in and change the results of an election," Lober said. "A big focus of theirs was that the swearing in of an officer is just a ministerial duty and that a certification is a finalizing factor."

Cahn objected to this claim, saying that the duties of the elections commissioner should not be curtailed, but should act as a vehicle for representing the voting public.

"Given the shortcomings of our current elections system, it is imperative that we grant our secretary sufficient discretion to ensure that the will of the people is always accurately represented," Cahn said. "That Ms. Hauptman, while seeking re-election, received fewer votes than the option to abstain proves how little confidence Grad residents have in her ability to represent them."

Samburg said that the cumbersome nature of the process owed itself largely to the Union Judiciary's own structural and procedural flaws.

"Greer won the election," Samburg said. "She was told that she won the election, her quad was told she won the election and she was operating under the assumption that she was Grad Quad Senator. The reason why [the process] took so long to deal with is because the UJ system is out of control.