By Baylee Pulliam
The results of the spring 2011 Student Government Association elections were announced at noon on March 4. While three of the Top 4 positions have been filled, one is still uncertain. The three vice presidents have been announced, but the race for the office of president has been declared a runoff.
“In the event of a tie or a failure of any candidate to get the required number of votes to win…a run-off election shall be held,” reads SGA’s 2011 election rules.
In order to win, a candidate must receive 40 percent of the vote.
None of the three presidential candidates were able to secure enough votes to win, although Frizzell did come up only 2 percent shy. This has resulted in a runoff election between the two who received the most votes.
The runoff election will pit Kurtis Frizzell, the current academic vice president and a junior political science and liberal studies double major, against John Weber, the current services vice president and a junior political science and philosophy double major. Frizzell is a member of the Cardinal Direction slate, while Weber is a member of the Elevate slate. According to Frizzell, the results announced on March 4 placed him 200 votes ahead of Weber.
Travis Gault, a doctoral student with multiple degrees and an independent candidate, did not receive enough votes and, according to election rules, will not be a candidate in the runoff election.
“We had three really qualified candidates,” said Weber. “I figured a runoff was possible.
The other three candidates running for Top 4 positions on the Cardinal Direction slate were elected. These results come despite a student government court ruling which deducted 1.5 percent of the Cardinal Direction slate’s total votes, due to their use of endorsements by The Province student housing.
Puja Sangoi, a junior biology major, will take the office of executive vice president. Jody Heil, a senior mechanical engineering major, will become the new academic vice president. The new services vice president will be Cara Monaco, a junior Spanish and communication double major.
“I was a little less surprised and a little more ecstatic,” said Frizzell. “All the VPs on the Cardinal Direction slate were great candidates and I was glad to see them win. They’re all really talented individuals.”
Election rules dictate that the candidates’ campaign expenditure caps will be increased by 25 percent to cover additional campaign materials. The balloting process will remain the same, aside from the removal of Gault from the ballot.
Frizzell said his course of action for the runoff elections will focus on the issues important to students, as well as stressing the importance of students’ votes.
“It would be pretty great to have the team back together,” said Frizzell. “Anything can happen to sway a runoff election, but I feel pretty strong.”
As for Weber, he said he will follow the same plan he used in the first stage of voting.
“I’ve never really done this before,” said Weber. “I’ll just encourage people to vote again and to vote for whomever they feel would do the best job.”
Voting will take place between March 8 and 10 on ULink. The results of the runoff election will be announced at 12 p.m. on March 11 in the Floyd Theater.
