As if the Undergraduate Student Government Elections this year were not a mess already, filled with childish grievances and mudslinging, the recent call from Shakedown and Saluki candidates to invalidate the election further adds insult to injury.

As of now, all the facts are not known, but what is known does need explanation. The members of USG and the candidates themselves need to realize that this situation is not a joke or something to take lightly. This needs to be addressed immediately and in a professional manner. It should be investigated, and if any wrongdoing is present, then a new election should be conducted.

So far, charges have been against the Progress Party that ballot numbers are inconsistent. The Recreation Center shows that 175 people voted, yet the Student Center ID office shows that only 169 people voted. Another incidence of numbers not matching up involve the total election turnout numbers. Final count of ballots cast show 1707 but ID totals show that 1929 voters showed up. (Among the 222 missing ballots were 88 invalid ballots.)

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These numbers are extremely suspicious. These two facts alone are cause for an investigation into this matter. Another lesser charge against the Progress Party is of an election judge offering information on who endorsed the student trustee candidates.

There is nothing more embarrassing or disgraceful than cheating. Whatever the situation may be, it is never an acceptable practice. The USG elections should not be any different. This is an organization that handles student concerns. In return, the students themselves pay fees to support it. The students of this campus should not be let down if there was indeed wrongdoing. This solution should also not be drawn out. A quick resolution is what is needed.

Now, if this is just a attempt by a group of sore losers to have another chance, they should equally be embarrassed. What the USG elections are beginning to look like is a group of people that should have been running for the president of their high school and not university. There has been an extreme amount of bad blood drawn in the last few weeks, leaving an inability by all to work together. Regardless of the outcomes of these fiascoes, there should be a certain amount of cooperation between those involved to reach the bottom of this affair.

As this newspaper has said before, elections are not supposed to be pretty, but they should be professional. The attitudes displayed by all parties in this year’s USG elections are not something this University should be proud off. Do not ignore the problem because it could only cause troubles in the future.