The Student Government Association (SGA) released an email to the student body Tuesday evening containing the unofficial results of the SGA presidential and vice presidential runoff elections. They show victory by SGA presidential candidate Rachel Ding (20Ox, 22B) and vice presidential candidate Nick Paschetto (20Ox, 22B), who ran on opposing tickets.
The results have not been certified due to the pending trial regarding alleged violations of the SGA Code of Elections.
The uncertified results show that Ding defeated opponent Rhea Kumar (22B) by a margin of 22 votes. Ding received 1,087 votes (50.51%) while Kumar garnered 1,065 votes (49.48%).
Although vice presidential candidate Amon Pierson (22C) ran alongside Ding in a joint campaign, he failed to receive the majority of the votes in the vice presidential race, losing to Kumar’s running mate, Paschetto. Pierson earned 1,048 votes (48.96%) while Paschetto received 1,104 votes (51.3%), a margin of 56 votes.
With 2,152 votes cast, there was a 28.9% turnout rate in the runoff election, a 2% decrease from the first round of voting.
Due to the pending trial before the Constitutional Council, Chief Justice Jane Wang (22C) ordered the Elections Board to initially hold off on releasing the runoff results. However, in accordance with Part III Article 2K of the Elections Code, the Constitutional Council released the preliminary results ahead of the trial, the email stated.
The email also noted that the fate of the election certification will be determined by the Constitutional Council's ruling in the case, titled Park v. Steffel et. al.
In the case, Fourth-year College Council Legislator Sun Woo Park (19Ox, 21C) accused SGA President Lori Steffel (21B), BBA Council President Emily Ferguson (21B) and BBA Council Vice President-elect Katie Lee (22B) of violating the SGA Code of Elections by campaigning for Kumar and Paschetto.
The hearing for the case is set for April 8 or 9.
