She resigned from her post as secretary and decided to withdraw her vice presidential bid. She wrote that she then rejoined the race, but insisted on throwing out the votes of her non-Republican friends.

Sheley, who declined to be interviewed by telephone for this story, wrote in an e-mail message that she was not sure whether she would have won if she had allowed the votes to count.

Porter, Sheley, incoming HRC vice president W. Lucien Smith '03 and club member Jeffrey A. Letalien '01 all said they believed that candidates besides Porter and Sheley sought votes from those outside the club.

Membership in the club increased from about 75 in the week before the election to 101 members who voted at the election.

Former club president Jason P. Brinton '01 said that the sudden jump in membership was not out of the ordinary.

"Everyone at Harvard procrastinates," Brinton said. " It's the paper phenomenon. If you assign a paper due in three weeks, no one's going to do it until right before it's due." Brinton said he believed that the number of dues-paying members who had crossed party lines to vote was "minimal."

Sheley wrote last night that she felt that the HRC election rules needed to be changed in order to ensure fairness.