Candidate reinstated, election rescheduled
By Danny Gillham
Staff Reporter

Blake Eason is a presidential candidate again.

Eason, a junior finance major who was eliminated from the Student Government Association presidential race last week, was reinstated Monday after winning his appeal with the Student Organizations Committee.

“They said I did not break any rules,” Eason said. “They looked over my appeal and said I had not committed any violations.”

SOC Chairman John Horner declined to comment on the meeting, only saying the SOC came to a decision and all necessary parties were informed.

A re-election for the SGA presidency will now take place Wednesday, said Elections and Regulations Chairman Nick James.

Last Wednesday, Eason was removed from the race after violating Section 3.2.12 in the Student Handbook, which prohibits unauthorized presence on university premises.

Eason, accompanied by his campaign supporters, knocked on doors in residence halls introducing himself as a presidential candidate.

Eason had also received two previous violations. He received his first violation after prematurely announcing his candidacy for president Oct. 14. He was also given a $25 fine for early placement of campaign signs.

James said poll hours for the re-election will be from 7 a.m. until 9 p.m., the same as last week’s elections.

“If a runoff is necessary, we will probably have that on Thursday,” said James, a junior political science major.

In the official results of the Nov. 11 elections, Eason edged candidate Jay Zeidman by three votes, 798 to 795. Candidates Jason Ruth and Anthony Oppermann finished with 382 and 353 votes, respectively.

James said all candidates will be able to campaign until the closing of the polls Wednesday night, and will be given an extra $25 to campaign.

“All rules enforced by the House Judiciary Board still apply,” James said.

Eason said he is just glad to be back in the race.

“This proves that we didn’t do anything wrong in our campaigns,” Eason said.

In an e-mail sent Monday to Eason and James, Horner made two recommentdations: The Elections Committee and the Judiciary Board should meet with all of the candidates before the election to review election procedures and SGA should revise the Election Code to clarify it.