Editor’s note: This article was initially published in The Daily Gazette, Swarthmore’s online, daily newspaper founded in Fall 1996. As of Fall 2018, the DG has merged with The Phoenix. See the about page to read more about the DG.
Dear Friends,
With the polls closed, the Student Council Elections Committee has determined that four out of the five races have a confirmed winner. We congratulate Sonja Spoo ’13 (Appointments Chair), Luis Penate ’13 (Student Events Advisor), Hilary Pomerantz ’12 (Secretary) and Watufani Poe ’13 (Campus Life Representative) for winning their respective races.
As you will see from the results below, Ambar La Forgia ’11 received six more votes than Deivid Rojas ’11 for Vice-President. We do not believe that this result is decisive enough to declare a winner for the following reasons:
1). Blackboard noted that 21 voters filled out a ballot without submitting it. This occurred by voters pressing the “save” instead of “submit” button. This constitutes a margin of error that exceeds the vote difference between the two vice-presidential candidates.
2). Due to a fluke, the polls closed at 11:55pm instead of at 11:59pm. At least two votes have contacted the election committee to say that they were planning to cast ballots between 11:55-11:59pm. We do not know if other students attempted to vote during this time period.
Following the procedures outlined in the constitution, the Student Council Elections Committee has determined that a special election must take place to determine who will be the next Student Council vice-president. The constitution does not permit us to hold a simple run off, but instead requires us to hold a new election in which other candidates can submit platforms. At earliest, the special election will take place at the end of the first week of classes during the 2010 Spring semester.
Normally, the Student Council Vice-President administers elections. Since, the term for current Vice-President Nate Erskine ’10 expires on December 19th, Student Council Rachel Bell ’10, will be in charge of administering the special election.
More information on the special election process will follow. We will publish the write in candidates tomorrow when we provide more details for the special election.
Sincerely,
The Members of the Student Council Elections Committee
Rachel Bell ’10, Student Council President
Nate Erskine ’10, Student Council Vice-President
Stephan Lefebvre ’11, Student Council Secretary
The Results
_Note: platforms can be found here
Vice-President: (Undecided)
Ambar La Forgia ’11 281 (42.966%)
Deivid Rojas ’11 275 (42.049%)
No Preference 54 (8.257%)
None of the Above 10 (1.529%)
Write In 29 (4.434%)
Unanswered 5 (0.765%)
Appointments Chair
Philmon Haile ’13 129 (19.725 %)
Sonja Nicole Spoo ’13 311 (47.554 %)
No Preference 133 (20.336 %)
None of the Above 37 ( 5.657 %)
Write In 38 (5.81 %)
Unanswered 6 (0.917 %)
Student Events Advisor
Luis Penate ’13 418 (63.914 %)
No Preference 98 (14.985 %)
None of the Above 70 (10.703 %)
Write In 57 (8.716 %)
Unanswered 11 (1.682%)
Secretary
Daniel Pak ’12 172 (26.3 %)
Hilary Pomerantz ’12 314 (48.012 %)
No Preference 105 (16.055 %)
None of the Above 21 (3.211 %)
Write In 32 (4.893 %)
Unanswered 10 (1.529 %)
Campus Life Representative
Ariel Finegold ’13 126 (19.266 %)
Watufani Poe ’13 384 (58.716 %)
No Preference 80 (10.856 %)
None of the Above 27 (4.128 %)
Write In 37 (5.657 %)
Unanswered 9 (1.376 %)