The recent coverage of the continuing situation of the Pappas-Farr candidacy for 3rd District supervisor has been a little skewed to one side. We are so quick to vilify Mr. Pappas and say how wrong he is when all he is doing is keeping our government from fraudulent actions and making sure the election that happened on our watch, on our campus, in our community, was legitimate and without cause for concern.

It is funny that so many people have jumped out and said that what he is doing is wrong and does not represent the UCSB community. Let’s think about this for a second: The UCSB community voted in an election as part of the 3rd District supervisor race. The 3rd district is one of five districts of Santa Barbara County. Steve has been a member of this community a lot longer than most of us have been here and he will be here a lot longer than most of us will be. He actually ran for this same office once before, when most of us weren’t here, so let’s not harp on him not being a part of the community because he is more a part of this community than most of us ever will be.

As well, let’s get some of the facts out there that seem to be floating over most people’s heads on campus. There was a 100.2 percent turnout on our campus; something obviously was wrong with this election and how it was conducted. Why aren’t we all asking for an investigation into what happened? Also, the only thing a trial will do is put the facts out there about the problems with the voter registration and other possible infractions. Regardless if you believe that the three-day rule is stupid or not, it’s the law, and the law must be followed. We cannot bend the rules because we are a college campus and we might have more students to register than other places.

I understand that some are upset about what is going on, but it’s kind of funny that so many of these same people were complaining and still are about the 2000 presidential election when voter irregularities called into question ballots, votes and the winner of the race. Let the system check itself to make sure there were no errors and if there were errors it will work itself out. Remember, it’s not Mr. Pappas or Ms. Farr who decide who wins this race; it’s the votes, the legal ones, of course.