“I believe the first campaign violation was a result of the [Election Commission] failing to have the rules for the election ready and clarified in time,” Darst writes in an e-mail. “And, as I am sure you know, the second violation is still under investigation for sabotage.”

Darst and Simon have filed an appeal to the commission contending that the illegal posters in Quincy were not hung by members of their campaign team.

By the end of the first week of the campaign, fines had already cost the campaign a hefty $74 out of a combined budget of $200 for the two candidates.

In another blunder, the campaign produced posters bearing the names of both candidates. When the council tallies the cost of the campaign, these posters will count against both Darst and Simon’s budgets, effectively charging the campaign twice for each poster.

Few candidates have been as tenacious as Darst, though, or as willing to brave the elements in the pursuit of votes. For the past week Darst and his supporters have been fixtures in front of the Science Center, waving signs, shouting slogans and occasionally challenging their competitors to snowball fights.

Simon, for her part, has garnered the endorsements of a number of allies within the council.

Council member Joshua A. Barro ’05, who initially backed Chopra and running-mate Jessica R. Stannard-Friel ’04, switched to the Darst-Simon camp after Chopra and Stannard-Friel abstained from voting on a contentious motion at last week’s council meeting. Barro proposed the motion, which sought to overrule a $750 technology allocation by current President Sujean S. Lee ’03 and Vice President Anne M. Fernandez ’03.

“I thought that really showed a lack of leadership,” Barro says.

The campaign has emphasized the combination of Darst’s business know-how and Simon’s council track record. Darst and Simon promise to streamline the council’s bylaws, reducing what they view as unnecessary and ineffective debate.

They also want to poll undergraduate opinion through surveys, organize meetings between students and council members and provide forums for students to give the council feedback.

They promise to expand Crimson Cash to area businesses, to seek innovative ways of funding student groups and to make sure that students are represented in Harvard’s upcoming curricular review.