SGA Election Heads for Sept. 16 Run-off for President/Vice president

The election for president and vice president of Stetson’s Student Government Association will head into a run-off after none of the three tickets on the ballot received a majority during the Wednesday, Sept. 9, vote.

Hannah Weary and Aliya Cruise

The ticket of Hannah Weary/Aliya Cruise will go against Joshua Finkelstein/Daniel Hendrick in the run-off, which will be held Wednesday, Sept. 16, said Lischna Castor, a junior marketing major and chair of the Elections Committee. Neither ticket received the required majority of 50% plus one vote, she said. The ballot also included the ticket of Joe Francis/Connor Haugen. Thirty-five Senate seats were filled during the election.

The run-off will use the same voting process, with students being able to vote online from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sept. 16 on the Engage platform. Students who did not vote previously will be able to vote in the run-off.

Joshua Finkelstein and Daniel Hendrick

Also, the elections committee will hold an online “town hall debate-style forum for the remaining two tickets, similar to what we had this week prior to the election,” Castor said. The forum will be held Tuesday, Sept. 15. Details are still being worked out and will be announced in coming days, she said.

The SGA normally holds Senate elections in the fall and spring semesters, while the president/vice president race is held only in the spring. However, the pandemic forced the cancellation of all elections last spring. The SGA decided to extend the terms of those in office through the spring term and hold elections in the fall semester for senators, plus the president and vice president.

The Sept. 9 election drew 551 voters, compared to 473 last fall.

“That was a great increase in our engagement,” said Castor, who decided not to run for office this year due to various commitments, after serving last year as a senator representing commuter students. “I think because we had the president and vice president election at the same time, that boosted more participation on the students’ end.”

Lischna Castor

She also said she thinks there is heightened interest in the election due to the pandemic, the upcoming U.S. presidential election and the protests across the country over racial injustice.

That increased voter engagement came despite the pandemic forcing the elections committee to be “heavily reliant” on virtual measures for their get-out-the-vote efforts “since we essentially couldn’t do anything in person,” Castor said.

The Sept. 9 election was the first to utilize the Engage platform, which replaced the HatterSnyc platform, but election organizers reported no glitches with the new system, Castor said.

Some senate seats remain to be filled because no candidates sought those positions, Castor said. Those seats could possibly be filled during the semester through a process in which anyone interested in an open seat can interview with the president and then address the Senate, which would then vote on approving the applicant.

Here’s a list of senators elected to office in the Sept. 9 vote, grouped by the constituency they will represent:

• Class of 2021 — George Alderman, Robert Manalo, Clyde Tucker

• Class of 2022 — Sarah Munnigh, Tyler Kick, Tristen Montalvo, Joseph Schultz

• Class of 2023 — Julia Moore, Paolo Teodorescu, Camilo Lilleslaten, Lexi Falance

• Class of 2024 — Ngan Le, Alejandra Correa, Jaida Garnes, Austin Carpenter

• College of Arts & Sciences: Lana Kolchinsky, Christopher Walker, Rachel Harrison, Jose Lois

• School of Business — William Webb, Timothy Heath          

• School of Music — Jacquelyn Tawil Brown

• Commuter — Grace James, Catharine Remy, Colin Snyder, Jennifer Weller

• Athlete — Arye Beck

• At-Large — Gabriel Colon, Kristina Mickens, Veronica Bautista, Isaac Mendez, Mark Manglardi, Nicole Brunson, Ariana Motta, Ion Sancho and Della Vaughan

Rick de Yampert