Election hijacked, conservative students claim

A team of conservative student leaders at California's American River College who adopted resolutions in support of traditional marriage and against a pro-homosexual "Day of Silence" plans to challenge the results of a student body election that appears to have installed a new "change-themed" team of leaders.

WND reported when the board of students recently adopted a resolution opposing the homosexual promotion day and also earlier when Proposition 8 was on the state's election ballot. It was approved in the November election, defining in the state constitution a definition of marriage limited to one man and one woman.

Candidate George Popko, a key member of the incumbent team whose members worked on those social issues, now has announced there will be a challenge to the election results because of a series of suspicious circumstances that resulted in apparent victory for the "change" candidates.

He said his team is consulting with attorneys "because of the faculty and the administration hijacking our election."

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Popko said school officials for the first time participated in the election management, and an investigation needs to be done.

School spokesman Stephen Peithman confirmed university faculty and administrators participated in the election for the first time but said it was because only they could run a checkoff list of students who were given ballots.

"There was no administrative interference [in the election]," he said.

He brushed off any suggestion of an investigation or recount.

"I have heard nothing," he said.

Popko told WND he wasn't particularly surprised by the results, because some of the same school employees who participated in protests against the conservative move of the student body leadership were the ones running the election.

"We're sure we'll find some kind of fraud," Popko said.

He noted that school officials ordered the election results posted even though the Board of Justice for the American River College Student Association has instructed they be withheld because of the allegations.

"The administration and faculty have conspired to remove us from office since they don't approve of the image of ARC as having a conservative student body," said Popko, who ran for president.

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The election was held a week ago, and the results posted on Friday, he said. The changeover in administration is scheduled in June.

"Administrators and faculty members who are known to be hostile to the current student leadership created the new Voter Verification System (VVS) that was being used for the first time and began working the election polling station, contrary to all established precedent in prior elections," Popko's statement explained.

"Some faculty members even went so far as to offer extra credit to students for voting and endorsed the 'ARC Students for Change' slate of candidates, many of whom made announcements in their classrooms," it said.

Then complaints filed over the election were seized by school officials, he said.