If the EC found that stuffing the mailboxes was an ad-boardable offense, Driskell and Burton would have been disqualified from the race.

Burton responded to the complaint by saying that he got permission to stuff the mailboxes from an employee at Harvard Yard Mail Center, a distinction that satisfied the EC, but few council members.

Council member Ted A. Swasey '00, who did not endorse anyone in the presidential race, said that permission should properly come from the Freshman Dean's Office (FDO), and not a worker in the mail center.

"Frankly, it was pretty ridiculous," he wrote in an e-mail message. "It's against University rules to do something like that. Fentrice and John, who are both experienced campaigners, should have known better."

Even Driskell and Burton supporters found the pair's decision to stuff first-year mailboxes unsettling.

"I wish that John and Fentrice had spoken to the [FDO] before doing the mail drop," said David B. Orr '01, who endorsed the pair and worked on their campaign.

The EC decided that, because Burton had received permission from a mail-room worker, he had not committed an ad-boardable offense. Had they decided otherwise, the Driskell-Burton ticket would automatically have been kicked out of the campaign--and their sweeping victory would have been overturned.

"It's unfortunate," said Seton about the Driskell-Burton mail drop. "If they were able to reach all 1,600 freshmen via the mail like that, that might, in part, explain the large margin of victory they had."