The Undergraduate Council’s presidential elections haven’t even begun, but election officials are already investigating their first scandal.

Four days before the deadline for potential candidates to declare their intent to make a bid in next month’s election, potential candidate Justin R. Chapa ’05 is facing scrutiny for a website that may violate a ban on early campaigning.

Chapa, currently a council member, said he was unaware and uninvolved in a “Draft Justin for UC President” website, which was forwarded to several House open e-mail lists by supporters yesterday.

Council rules stipulate that candidates cannot take part in any kind of campaigning before they file a declaration of intent and cannot spend any money on their campaigns before Dec. 1.

“If [Chapa] decides to run, we would be obligated to investigate it,” said election commission chair David I. Monteiro ’04. “Obviously, the site creates a disadvantage for the other potential candidates.”

The webpage, www.draftjustin.org, touts Chapa’s accomplishments on the council.

Mark T. Silvestri ’05, Chapa’s friend and a fellow Harvard Republican Club member, said the site was his idea.

But some are concerned that Chapa has found the Harvard parallel to a campaign finance loophole.

Election rules state that “candidates shall not be held responsible for violations committed by persons other than their campaign personnel and committed with neither their own knowledge nor the knowledge or their campaign personnel.”

The election commission will explicitly investigate whether Chapa was aware of the site and if he had any role in planning it, Monteiro said.

Silvestri helped Chapa in his unsuccessful campaign for council vice

president last year.

“We would definitely take this into account,” Monteiro said.

Silvestri said that the site was created to encourage Chapa to run in the elections.

“I really want to see Justin run,” Silvestri said.