Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Despite Last-Minute Changes, Senate Bill Deals Big Blow to Renewable Energy

23 hours ago

Trump-Backed Tax-Cut and Spending Bill Passes US Senate

1 day ago

Homeland Security Secretary Noem Says CNN May Be Prosecuted Over Report on Migration App

1 day ago

Israeli Officials to Hold Ceasefire Talks in Washington Amid Military Escalation in Gaza

1 day ago

Trump Escalates Feud With Musk, Threatens Tesla, SpaceX Support

1 day ago

Musk Vows to Punish Lawmakers Who Back Trump’s Spending Bill

2 days ago

Will Valadao Spoil Trump’s Plan for July 4th ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ Signing?

2 days ago

Shaver Lake and Reedley 4th of July Shows Are Wednesday. Who Else Is Celebrating?

2 days ago
Student Council Presidential Election Hacked by Candidate
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 6 years ago on
April 12, 2019

Share

SAN FRANCISCO — The first online election for student government at Berkeley High School became a lesson in more than democracy. Students also learned about vote fraud, hacking and digital privacy after a high school junior who was running for class president cast hundreds of fake online votes for himself.
As many as 2,400 students were eligible to vote by email in last month’s weeklong election. When a sudden surge in votes for one candidate started coming in the day before the election was to end, though, the school’s director of student activities, John Villavicencio, became suspicious.
Villavicencio and a student discovered the voting fraud was not the work of hackers in some far-off land, but from inside: The surging candidate — with help from a friend — had cast online ballots in his favor by hacking into the school district-issued email accounts of more than 500 of his classmates.
Rather than punishment, Berkeley school officials believe in “restorative justice” and there is talk of apology letters and even forming a discussion circle next week with all the candidates and the two who tried to rig the election, Villavicencio said.

The Cheating Candidate Had Access to Student Names and ID Numbers

“The students in question need to reflect upon what they did and why it was so bad and they need to do that in a public way,” he said.

“The students in question need to reflect upon what they did and why it was so bad and they need to do that in a public way.” — John Villavicencio, the school’s director of student activities
The cheating candidate, a junior making his second run for class president whose name was not released, had access to a list containing students’ names and ID numbers. Voting in the election, it turned out, was done using a Google form that could be accessed using Gmail accounts issued to students by the district, with a default password that includes each student ID number.
Villavicencio and Robert Ezra Stern, a senior who serves as the school’s commissioner of elections, investigated and found the fraudulent votes were cast from the same computer and the votes were cast in alphabetical order.
And while most students voted right before or right after school or during lunch, on March 21, the day before the election closed, “the votes for these two candidates were coming in in mass quantities at all times of day and night,” Villavicencio said.
The boy eventually took responsibility for the fraud and was disqualified from the election, Villavicencio said.
Citing confidentiality, Berkeley Unified School District spokesman Charles Buress would not say whether the two students involved in the fraud will face any disciplinary action, but he repeated that Berkeley High combines formal discipline with restorative practices “in which students work to directly repair the harm that was caused.”

The Students Who ‘Won’ Were Angry and Frustrated

The students who won the election after the fraud was uncovered, president-elect Lexie Tesch and vice president-elect Daijah Conerly, said they were angry and frustrated that someone would try to win by invading other peoples’ privacy.

“I don’t want him to get expelled. I do believe in second chances after someone has learned their lesson but I don’t think getting disqualified is enough for him to learn his lesson.” — president-elect Lexie Tesch
“I didn’t want students to lose faith in democracy,” said Tesch, who wants to be a senator one day.
The two juniors, who said they would often stay up past midnight campaigning and thinking of new policy ideas, plan to work with administrators to decide if the school should hold online voting again or go back to paper ballots.
They say they agree with holding a discussion circle and having the students apologize but they also want the fraudster to face disciplinary action.
“I don’t want him to get expelled,” Tesch said. “I do believe in second chances after someone has learned their lesson but I don’t think getting disqualified is enough for him to learn his lesson.”
Conerly, who aspires to be a U.S. Supreme Court Justice, said, “He should at least be suspended because he betrayed his school and his classmates.”

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Trump Pulls Back 150 Guard Troops From Federal Duties in California

DON'T MISS

Trump Says Israel Has Agreed to Conditions to Finalize 60-Day Gaza Ceasefire

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Man Arrested for Suspected Arson Hours After Separate Wildfire

DON'T MISS

New California Environmental Rollbacks Could Boost Housing Projects in Fresno

DON'T MISS

Iran Made Preparations to Mine the Strait of Hormuz, US Sources Say

DON'T MISS

Fresno Unified’s Embattled Nikki Henry Exits. ‘I Own My Mistake. I Won’t Let It Own Me.’

DON'T MISS

Trump Floats Daughter-in-Law Lara Trump for Senate Run in North Carolina

DON'T MISS

Google Hit With $314 Million US Verdict in Cellular Data Class Action

DON'T MISS

Tulare County Wildfire Prompts Advisory in Three Rivers Area

DON'T MISS

O’Brien Launches Fresno County Schools Chief Campaign by Handing Out ‘Homework’

UP NEXT

California Republicans Send Message to Trump: Deport Criminals, Not Our Vital Workers

UP NEXT

CA Rolls Back Its Landmark Environmental Law to Speed Housing Construction

UP NEXT

California Seizes Over 600,000 Pounds of Illegal Fireworks. Newsom Calls for Safe Celebrations

UP NEXT

Suspect Identified in Ambush Shooting That Killed 2 Idaho Firefighters

UP NEXT

Buying a Home With Solar? Beware of CA Bill Written by Former Utility Co. Exec

UP NEXT

Trump Administration Sues Los Angeles Over Immigration Enforcement

UP NEXT

Suspect Identified in Ambush Shooting That Killed 2 Idaho Firefighters

UP NEXT

Immigration Raids Leave Crops Unharvested, California Farms at Risk

UP NEXT

CA’s Population Shrank in Trump’s First Immigration Crackdown. It Could Happen Again

UP NEXT

Controversial Climate Rule That Could Raise Gas Prices About to Take Effect

Paramount Settles With Trump Over ‘60 Minutes’ Interview for $16 Million

28 minutes ago

Republicans Tee up House Vote on Trump Bill, Outcome Uncertain

34 minutes ago

What’s Next for Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs After His Sex Trafficking Trial?

40 minutes ago

Dalai Lama Says He Will Be Reincarnated, Trust Will Identify Successor

1 hour ago

Fresno Police to Hold DUI Checkpoint on Independence Day

1 hour ago

The Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Story: From Recording Studio to Criminal Trial

1 hour ago

Four Rescued After Kings River Float Turns Dangerous

2 hours ago

Hamas Says It Is Studying Ceasefire Proposal Labelled ‘Final’ by Trump

2 hours ago

Wall Street Edges Down After ADP Shock. Focus on Trade Talks, Payrolls Data

2 hours ago

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Convicted on Prostitution Counts, but Cleared of More Serious Charges

2 hours ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Logan Ryan Martin

July 2, 2025 Most Wanted Person of the Day Suspect Name: Logan Ryan Martin Suspects Date of Birth: November 25, 2002 Physical Description: W...

19 minutes ago

Logan Ryan Martin is Valley Crime Stoppers' Most Wanted Person of the Day for July 2, 2025. (Valley Crimes Stoppers)
19 minutes ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Logan Ryan Martin

A new Marist Poll finds that most Americans believe national divisiveness and politically motivated violence pose serious threats to U.S. democracy. (Shutterstock)
24 minutes ago

Poll: Most Americans Say National Divide, Political Violence Threaten Democracy

A logo of mobile application Instagram is seen on a mobile phone, during a conference in Mumbai, India, September 20, 2023. (Reuters File)
24 minutes ago

Meta’s Instagram Down for Thousands of Users in US, Downdetector Shows

President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Democratic Republic of the Congo's Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner and Rwanda's Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington D.C., June 27, 2025. (Reuters File)
28 minutes ago

Paramount Settles With Trump Over ‘60 Minutes’ Interview for $16 Million

The U.S. Capitol building is seen as a thunderstorm rolls through Washington, D.C., U.S., July 1, 2025. (Reuters/Elizabeth Frantz)
34 minutes ago

Republicans Tee up House Vote on Trump Bill, Outcome Uncertain

Defense lawyers comfort Sean "Diddy" Combs while discussing how to handle a note sent by jurors that they had reached a verdict on four of the five counts against him, during Combs' sex trafficking trial in New York City, New York, U.S., July 1, 2025, in this courtroom sketch. (Reuters/Jane Rosenberg)
40 minutes ago

What’s Next for Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs After His Sex Trafficking Trial?

Dalai Lama blesses actor Richard Gere in Dharamsala, India June 30, 2025, in this screen grab from a video. Reuters TV/via REUTERS.
1 hour ago

Dalai Lama Says He Will Be Reincarnated, Trust Will Identify Successor

1 hour ago

Fresno Police to Hold DUI Checkpoint on Independence Day

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend