On the eve of the Harvard-Radcliffe Undergraduate Council's elections for president and vice president, its members voted to keep the council the way it is.

A constitutional amendment debated last night to remove the "Radcliffe" from the council's name failed to attract the three-quarters majority required for passage.

At the same meeting, council President Noah Z. Seton '00 urged the student body to downsize the council to 60 members in this week's election, and publicly endorsed Sterling P.A. Darling '01 as his successor.

The endorsement comes just in time for elections. Students can vote on referenda and candidates today through Wednesday by typing ucvote as the fas% prompt.

The failure of the name-change amendment, coming nearly eight months after Harvard first announced it would merge with Radcliffe and over two months after the actual merger, irked some council members.

"It may feel good to pretend that we live in an imaginary world where Radcliffe as an undergraduate institution still exists, but it accomplishes nothing to mire the Council in a symbolic anachronism," Lev Polinsky '99-'00, who sponsored the legislation, wrote in an e-mail message.

The final vote, 45 in favor and 23 opposed, means that, at least for now, the Radcliffe in the council's name will remain.

The opposition to the amendment, said Shai M. Sachs '01, who voted against the legislation, protests the neglect of women's rights on campus, and the exclusion of students in the decision to merge with Radcliffe.