While the tickets for the 2002 Student Government Association elections are going head-to-head, only one grievance has been filed during the election process.

Election Commissioner Lauren Gretz said that the grievance was fairly minor and was handled accordingly. The issue was a violation of University policy and therefore in violation of the election policy, which states that University rules must be followed.

“No one is doing anything wrong intentionally,” Gretz said. The grievance had to do with the election policy of person-to-person campaigning and the University policy of soliciting door to door in residence halls.

An e-mail sent to Griesedieck residents stated, “The `Uniting for Change’ ticket has violated University policy by soliciting students door-to-door in Griesedieck Hall. This offense is considered in violation of election policies. As a result, the election commission requests that you remove any `Uniting for Change’ election postings from your doors and windows for the duration of the election.”

With regard to the punishment policy, Gretz explained that there is a three-tier grievance policy.

Tier one involves a less severe punishment, which may be appealed by the accused to the election commissioner. Tier two is a little more severe and may be appealed to Phil Lyons, SGA moderator and director of Student Life. Tier three involves a very serious offense and punishment that must be appealed to the senate.

With the grievance filed during this year’s election, the ticket appealed to Lyons, who upheld the original decision of the election commission.