Rolf Timp ‘08 isn’t a fan of the ASSU, so, in an effort to mock the Undergraduate Senate, he asked 65 friends to write in his name on their Senate ballots.

But Timp ended up receiving about 965 votes, good for fourth place among all Senate candidates.

So why won’t Timp be sworn in to the Tenth Undergraduate Senate next week? His friends all wrote in his name 15 times on their ballots, and a glitch in the voting system counted all the duplicate votes. Elections Commissioner Ryan Woessner ‘10 responded by throwing out Timp’s duplicate votes, leaving him well out of contention for a Senate seat.

“I am trying to insult the system,” Timp said. “I think there are rampant flaws with it. It’s riddled with apathy.”

Timp is now dissatisfied with the way his protest has been received by ASSU officials.

Timp sent an email to the Elections Commission arguing that the commission acted inappropriately by ignoring ballot secrecy, disenfranchising Timp’s supporters and systematically discriminating against him. But what angered Timp the most was that the Commission has not adequately responded to his complaint.

“They totally ignored my request, which is my most serious complaint with the entire system,” Timp said.

Woessner said that the responsibility for responding to Timp’s complaint does not fall with the Elections Commission.

“He submitted a formal complaint to the constitutional council, so it’s basically up to the council to see if they want [to] take the case,” Woessner said. “It’s not up to the election commission to defend its actions.”

If the case is addressed by the constitutional council and Timp, who will be a graduate student next year, ends up on the Undergraduate Senate, he will be placed in an awkward situation — serving as a member of a body that he sought to ridicule.

“I would [serve in the Senate],” Timp said. “But only insofar as it would highlight how absurd a farce the process is.”