A request for a Union Judiciary hearing was filed Sunday by Bryan Lober '05 on behalf of Greer Hauptman '06 over the alleged unconstitutionality of the Elections Commission holding new elections last week.Hauptman won Senator for Grad Quad with a mandate during first round elections last month. She lost in the new election because the number of voters abstaining exceeded the amount of votes she received. As a result, this position will remain open until winter elections.

Hauptman's seat was removed after the Union settled with Andrei Khots '05 and Sarah Farhadian '07, who argued that candidates who received the majority of votes in Ridgewood, the Village and Grad Quads won less than 51 percent of the electorate for a mandate in the first sound.

"I feel that it's unfair that the decertification would disenfranchise the whole quad and deprive them of an experienced senator," Hauptman said. "I was a senator last year and would have been their senator this year."

Class of 2007 Senator and Elections Commissioner Albert Cahn said the chief elections commissioner has the right to decertify any election based on his or her discretion.

"This has no basis of precedent," Cahn said. "It goes against the precedent of the court for as long as we have on record. There is no case."

Lober said the Elections Commission had no grounds to settle because Hauptman had already been certified in her position. He also said while holding another round of elections for these three quads was unconstitutional, his main concern is placing Hauptman back in office.

"You cannot certify somebody and then tell that person 'we were just kidding,' " Lober said. "Elections were finalized and should not have been overturned by the Elections Commission without first seeking Union Judiciary approval."

Lober said that Khots and Farhadian only contested the Village election, in which they argued the candidate should not have been declared a winner without a real mandate. He said because nobody directly contested the Grad Quad election, the Elections Commission unjustly decided to apply the conditions of the settlement upon Hauptman.

Section eight of the Union constitution states: "The Chief of Elections and the Elections Commissioner[s] shall be empowered to resolve any and all election disputes. Such decisions may be appealed to the Union Judiciary."

Lober also said it was wrong to hold new elections during a Jewish holiday. He said this prevented a large number of students from voting, causing a low voter turnout which would have otherwise gone in Hauptman's favor.

"It is unreasonable to expect a rational student to check his/her e-mail during the time that they are preparing for a holiday, and religious services," Lober wrote in his writ of cert.

But Cahn said that in an instance where a disadvantage or error applies equally to all candidates, that election stands as valid.

"It is a baseless claim and one I expect the Union Judiciary to dismiss with prejudice," Cahn said.

Lober's writ states Hauptman did not challenge the settlement sooner because she did not have enough information to file a case. But Lober said he feels confident in that if the case goes to court, he will win.