After a five-hour meeting last Sunday night, the Student Union Senate voted to censure Chief of Elections and Union Secretary Michael Goldman '08 for disclosing election tallies to candidates while voting was still taking place during last spring's and last week's senate elections. As secretary, Goldman can access the elections software and count the number of votes each candidate has received. He admitted to disclosing to at least one candidate how many votes they had received. According to Union President Shreeya Sinha '09, the election outcome wasn't affected, because the candidate didn't win.

The senate voted unanimously to censure Goldman, rather than impeach him, senators said.

"It appears that he knew the number of votes every candidate had received at that time," Goldman said of the student he informed last spring. He said he released the numbers following the primary election. In the election last week, Goldman said he informed two students close to a candidate, "I don't believe that you need to worry about your friend," he paraphrased.

"In this case the hint was, I believe, relatively small," Goldman said.

Sinha and Goldman declined to disclose the names of the individuals involved.

The Union Constitution states vaguely, in Article III, section five, that the secretary should "oversee and certify all Union elections," and makes no mention that the secretary shouldn't share voting tally information with candidates.

Goldman said the Executive Board requested his resignation, but he refused to comply.

"It was an entirely political attack," Goldman said of the censure. While he admitted to acting unethically, he said he didn't feel he violated the constitution.

Sinha denied that the E-board had acted on political motivations. "I completely disagree," she said. "There's no way that this can be politically motivated because his actions speak for themselves."

An anonymous senator said an unofficial, non-binding straw poll was taken behind closed doors early Monday morning to gauge officials' opinion on whether the senate should vote on impeaching Goldman. The senator was granted anonymity because executive sessions are confidential. Because only 12 of the necessary 13 Union officials voted in favor of holding an impeachment vote (a two-thirds vote is required), the vote wasn't taken.

"We surveyed the senate and it became clear there was a deadlock," the anonymous senator said.

"Had they had the numbers in the senate, I am certain that they would have continued to seek that remedy," Goldman said of the E-board's desire to impeach him. "The fact that censure was chosen is a clear indication that the senate rejected this proposal."

The censure condemns Goldman's behavior, calls on the senate to reform the Union bylaws to address the infraction, and bars Goldman from accessing the voting software in the future. Student Union Vice President Alex Braver '09 and Zachary Pyle '09, the junior representative to the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee, can still access the system, Director of Union Affairs Jason Gray '10 said.

Goldman said he will propose giving access to Rajiv Ramakrishnan '10, a former senator for the Class of 2010.

When the E-board requested Goldman's resignation, Sinha said Goldman asked that the board sign a contract promising not to disclose information about the incidents to the senate or to the Brandeis community.

"I respect the senate's decision to censure Michael Goldman," Sinha said. "However, as the Student Union, we need to address and discuss when the constitution serves as a ground for our judgment and when our own integrity as elected officials comes into play."

Goldman questioned the E-board's motives, saying Sinha told him the board hoped to remove him from office because he had taken some contrary positions on recent issues, such as her appointments to the E-board.

Goldman also alleged that he isn't the first elections commissioner to share voting information.

"There have always been an incredible number of leaks from the executive office," he said. The anonymous senator agreed that this isn't the first time a secretary has given candidates insider voting information, but he couldn't offer any specific examples.

Goldman already received a warning after disclosing voting tallies last spring, Sinha said, adding that she learned of the most recent allegations last Wednesday from students who came forward with evidence that Goldman had released information. Goldman denied that he had been warned last semester.



Jacob Kamaras and Rachel Marder contributed reporting.


THE JUSTICE CANNOT BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR ANY COMMENTS THAT ARE POSTED BY STUDENTS.