But Liston says he had just three days to organize a complex College-wide vote. Many council members refused to table unless they could do so in their own houses, he says.
"I had a choice of breaking an insignificant bylaw or the referendum wouldn't happen," the candidate says.
In addition, Liston has recently started vigorously defending his record on enforcement of council attendance policy.
Last year, Liston disregarded nearly three dozen absences by members of the student affairs committee. This meant that he failed to expel five council members who, according to council bylaws, should have been kicked out for excessive absences.
In council decisions last May, Liston avoided impeachment and got a censure vote reversed. Now, he is attacking the evidence that was used to discredit him.
The former vice president now says he received records of about 10 of the absences too late to act on them. His account conflicts with the account of student affairs secretary Denise A. Ebery '95, who submitted the records.
Liston also says that about 17 of the absences were marked "pre-excused" by former student affairs committee chair Hassen A. Sayeed '96. The presidential candidate blames Sayeed for letting him take the heat.
Liston says he knew that only the executive board can legitimately pardon absences, making Sayeed's excuses invalid.
He also says the bylaw on absences isn't always applicable. He cites the case of one council member, who was absent from meetings after her father died.
"I didn't include those absences," Liston says. "But using your logic, I should have had her thrown off as well."
Today, Liston says only that he wishes he hadn't acknowledged Sayeed's pre-excused absences; he won't agree that he flouted the bylaws.
His Chances
How all this water under the bridge affects Liston's chances tomorrow night is unclear.
Many who were on the council last year view Liston as an impressive leader lacking administrative skills.
But 75 percent of the council is new, and they say that they're not going to judge Liston on what they've read in The Crimson.
"I'm not sure how accurate all of this is," says Geoffrey C. Rapp '98. "Facts can be manipulated. I would really want to keep an open mind."
Liston hopes his past can actually be an asset, as he pitches his three years' experience on the council.
In the semester before his term as vice president, Liston was co-chair of the campus life committee. And he made an unsuccessful bid for secretary as a sophomore.
He is even focusing his academic life on the body, he says.
"I have spent so much time working on the Council, and considering the important issues facing it that I decided to write my Senior Honors Thesis on the Undergraduate Council," he wrote in his position paper.