Class officer election results announced

The results of the sophomore, junior and senior class elections held Monday were announced at this week's Student Council meeting. Also announced was the outcome of the referenda vote.

The winners for next year's senior offices were Ravi Kavasery for president (95 votes), Sarah Cummings for vice-president (87 votes), Tara Feehan for secretary/treasurer (88 votes) and Katie Pittaway, Omer Taviloglu and Chris Cunico for representatives (65, 75, and 81 votes, respectively). All officers were re-elected encumbents of their current position, with the exception of Pittaway. Only 9.5 percent of current juniors voted, giving the lowest voter turnout of any class. According to Board of Elections (BoE) co-Chair Fahad Khan, this could be due to the fact that only one race was contested; Kavasery, Cummings and Feehan ran unopposed.

The results for next year's junior class offices favored Simone Chen for president (151 votes), Lindsay Allen for vice-president (139 votes), Aaron Ong for secretary/treasurer (213 votes) and Patience Boudreaux and Anuja Vora for representatives (188 and 183 votes, respectively). Chen and Allen were reelected to their current positions, and the candidates for secretary/treasurer and representative were uncontested. The current sophomore class turnout was 25 percent.

The candidates elected for next year's sophomore offices were Ben Radel for president (219 votes), Megan Coe for vice-president (138 votes), Shannon Chang for secretary/treasurer (157 votes) and Charles Reyner and Monica Lai for representatives (193 and 185 votes, respectively). All officers were reelected to their current positions, with the exception of Lai. Manu Sharma, candidate for representative, was disqualified for failure to turn in a spending report. The voter turnout for current freshmen was the highest of any class at 37 percent.

The winner of Vice President of Institutional Relations was Noel DeSantos, who won by a 63 percent margin (322 votes). The outcome of the referendum vote favored Amendment B, with 341 votes. Amendment A received 231 votes, and "no change" received 102.

According to BoE co-chair Erika Stoddard, the three-week election process "generally went well." Voting areas were set up in Wolman, MegaBytes, and MSE Library, and remained open from 12 to 9 p.m. A voting station in Gilman, which, according to Stoddard, drew only 20 voters due to its lack of traffic, only remained open until 4 p.m. Laptops were used to cast votes, and were deemed a success by Stoddard in "being expedient."

At the Student Council meeting, President Anuj Mittal commended the BoE for taking the process "to a new level" by providing televised statements and by managing the addition of this year's referenda issue.

"They did a great job dealing with the candidate statements and the referendum procedure...they had to operate with a lot of flexibility," said Mittal. "[BoE members] have the most selfless job on council."

The voter turnout was very similar to that of years past, according to the BoE, with the exception of the junior class, whose candidates ran largely unopposed. However, Stoddard expressed her opinion that the referenda issue might have had an influence on the lack of voters.

Freshman Rita Guevara was one of many who didn't make it to the polls on Monday. Citing a lack of information about the candidates or the referenda issues as her reason, Guevara explained that she chose to abstain from voting.

"I knew the importance of the issues at stake, and didn't feel I was well enough informed to cast a conscious vote," said Guevara.

The results of the referendum vote drew strong emotions from both sides of the issue. Current freshman Representative Morgan MacDonald felt that "the voice of the student body [had] been denied," not because of the BoE's actions, but because of what he saw as "negative campaigning."

"The BoE did a good job," said MacDonald. "It was just a shame we had to keep filing complaint after complaint [regarding campaign violations]."

Eric Leslie agreed with MacDonald, citing Amendment B as a "reactionary" measure to Amendment A, and expressed his opinion that had the amendments been people, the BoE would have taken greater issue with the way campaigning was conducted.

"People were confused," said Leslie. "Those pushing [Amendment] B made false claims that they knew weren't true but could make because the BoE allowed it."

Others were pleased with the outcome of the vote. Current Treasurer Noel DeSantos expressed pleasure that the "continuity of student groups" would be ensured. He recognized the merits of Amendment A, while proposing that Amendment B could adequately support and incorporate those ideas.

"Many of the ideas inherent in Amendment A were good and should be reconsidered...but the changes can be made through the [current] bylaws," said De Santos. "For all its merits, my main concern is that [Amendment A] already came before the student council and was shot down roundly."

Mittal expressed similar sentiments on the issue.

"The student body has taken a stance...I find it interesting that [Amendment A] was voted down by both the council and the student body," said Mittal.

In regards to claims of campaign violations, Stoddard stated that although "some opinions bordered on" negative campaigning, they were "within reason" and "within legal rights." She related that any problems reported to the BoE were addressed and rectified if necessary.

"[Referenda campaigning] was harder to judge," said Stoddard. "A whole group isn't a single person."

According to Stoddard, the BoE wanted to make sure that the issue was voted on, since so many students had demonstrated strong opinions about it.

At the Student Council meeting, Mittal recognized the negative nature of this year's election process, and advised newly elected council members to avoid such problems in the future.

"I would say that I'm disappointed in the overall personality of the election," said Mittal. "If there are referenda that are as contended as this one [in the future], it is important that motivations are as clear as possible.