California State University, San Marcos student Matt Weaver is suspected to have unlawfully accessed the university’s databases from a school-owned computer and was found in possession of devices that capture keystrokes of passwords and user names, according to campus police. Weaver also was charged with 10 counts of identity theft.
Weaver was running for president of the school’s student government. Voting was scheduled to end Friday, March 16, but the election was canceled indefinitely after Weaver was arrested Thursday night.
Weaver is a junior majoring in business administration at CSU, San Marcos, located about 30 miles north of San Diego. The North County Timesreports that Weaver also is the editor of a periodical called The Koala, which sparked a free-speech controversy on campus. Calloutthekoala.com says The Koala is a “hate tabloid” that objectifies women and promotes pedophilia, homophobia, racism, misogyny and pornography.
Weaver is free on $50,000 bail.
Election fraud has been perpetrated before on college campuses — particularly through ballot box stuffing. But the advent on campus of online voting and Web-based vote tabulating could be opening a new avenue for shenanigans.
