“The Undergraduate Council is very apologetic for confusing students,” she added. “We’re thinking that this will compensate for it.”

But voter turnout actually declined relative to last year.

This year 2,295 students voted, David I. Monteiro ’04, who sits on the council’s Election Commission, said at the council’s meeting Sunday night.

That marks a nearly 150-vote decrease from last year’s turnout.

“The system we used this year, as you know, caused some confusion,” Monteiro said.

Last week, Associate Dean of the College David P. Illingworth ’71, who had told the council that its initial plans for Web-based voting did not pass administrative muster, said he shared many students’ puzzlement about the elections.

“A few times during this process, I was thinking, ‘Florida, Florida, Florida,’” he said.

But Lee said the decline in turnout did not represent a significant drop.

“I think this year’s turnout was comparable to last year’s,” she said. “Everyone got an e-mail, which we thought would increase turnout, in addition to the natural publicity we got because of the Crimson coverage.”

Though Lee said she thought this year’s voting system was successful, she noted the system would not be used again in the future.

“Elections will not be held via e-mail, so people will not be spammed every election,” she said at Sunday’s council meeting.

Constitutional Questions

This fall council leaders appeared to bend the rules laid out for elections in the organization’s bylaws and constitution, which has led the group’s parliamentarian to say the council may need to revise the rules that govern its elections.

The problems started with the formation of the Election Commission, the six-member panel that oversaw the general elections. The council’s bylaws stipulate that each year the commission begin its term in April and become “responsible for running the upcoming general elections in the fall.”