First, the election commission said Driskell and Burton had overspent their campaign limit, a violation which, unbeknownst to election commissioners, would have resulted in the ticket's automatic expulsion from the race.

Opponents demanded that the commission take action.

The next day election commissioners insisted that Driskell and Burton were well beneath the $100 maximum spending limit. Then election commissioners said they weren't really so sure.

Darling and Hawkins were among the election commission's harshest critics.

"[The election commissioners] were very apathetic people...they didn't know what the rules were and didn't care to know," Darling says.

Last fall, there was a general sense among Driskell-Burton opponents that the election commission was unwilling to enforce the rules, and a sense among Driskell-Burton supporters that the election commission confusion was contributing to the suspicion surrounding their ticket.

"It's one thing to decide that you don't think a rule is important, it's another thing not to make that decision and just ignore it," Darling says.

This year, Hawkins says things are different.