Members of the Student Voice Coalition stood before the University of Kansas Elections Commission for violations of the Elections Code in a hearing at 4:30 p.m. yesterday.

The commission voted unanimously that Student Voice was guilty of libel and breaking a campaign rule, but the commission dropped the charges from serious to significant.

Lucas Thompson, elections commission chair, filed two complaints that Web sites maintained by Student Voice contained libelous statements about KUnited. The coalition pled not guilty to the two libel-related offenses.

Michael Diaz, elections commissioner, filed a complaint against the coalition for failing to submit campaign flyers of its platform by the due date, which was 5 p.m. the day after it announced its platform to the student body.

Student Voice pled no contest to the complaint because it was a misunderstanding of the procedure on its part.

The commission charged Student Voice with libel for statements about KUnited’s position on the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Differential Tuition proposal and increasing student fees. The first libel offense was in relation to information posted on the coalition’s Xanga Web site, www.xanga.com/studentvoice05.

When the commission accessed the Web site on March 9 it read: “Screw the tuition increase! Unlike KUnited, we are against unnecessary tuition increases. We don’t think students should foot the bill when they won’t receive benefits, and they certainly shouldn’t pay the entire cost of renovating a building.”

According to Thompson’s violation complaint: “KUnited has not at any time made an official endorsement of the plan. While some of its members have even been outspoken in support of CLAS differential tuition, many have worked and spoken out against the proposal.”

The second libel offense was in response to Student Voice’s Thefacebook profile, where the commission charged that Student Voice repeated the offense from the Xanga Web site.

Their profile on Thefacebook.com has the same statement, but goes further to say, “We will stop charging fees that don’t directly aid the student body and uphold our promise to never raise fees without a student body referendum (a promise KUnited broke).”

In his complaint, Thompson again pointed out that not all of the KUnited coalition members supported the CLAS differential tuition proposal.

He also pointed out that Steve Munch, student body president, vetoed the bill to increase student fees for legal services.

In his e-mail to the senators, Munch said he agreed with the legislation but suggested that the proposal be put on the spring referendum for a broader student approval.

Members of Student Voice said they removed the comment about KUnited after Munch vetoed a bill to increase student fees for legal services.

But Dennis Chanay, presidential candidate for Student Voice, said the way Thompson brought the charges was wrong.

“In real life a judge does not identify something as libel and initiate a suit unless the plaintiff has come forward,” Chanay said. “For Luke Thompson to be acting on behalf of KUnited shows bias.”

Student Voice was charged $50 for each offense equaling a total of $100. The coalition has 48 hours to appeal the decision to the University Judicial Board.

“We contest the entire decision, and we fully intend on making an appeal,” Chanay said. He did not comment on whether the coalition will remove the statements from its Web sites.

A separate complaint was filed against AJ Pollack, a candidate for senator. It was a closed hearing.

A complaint was also filed against KUnited, but the hearing was postponed until after spring break. The complaint will not be released until then.

Three representatives of Student Voice, two representatives for KUnited, and one representative for Delta Force attended the meeting, which was held in the Kansas Union.