Taylor Bentley, a candidate for Senior Class Vice President, was disqualified from the election because he displayed his campaign poster too close to a voting area. It is silly to disqualify Mr. Bentley, or any other candidate, on these grounds. Laws like this one exist in official government elections for good reason; terrorist organizations like the Ku Klux Klan used to hang out in front of ballot boxes and intimidated black voters into staying home.
Prohibiting interest groups from campaigning near the ballot boxes is an easily enforceable, sensible means of preventing disenfranchisement. It would be laughable to say the same concerns apply to Wesleyan elections. The concerns in this election are organizing parties, speeches, and resumé-padding. Mr. Bentley’s poster was harmless. I cannot imagine any reason to apply this rule to the student elections here, other than to give a whiff of formalism to the procedures; maybe the election officials just like having a bunch of rules to enforce.
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