“No confidence” won the Student Government Association (SGA) presidential runoff election, beating Alyssa Stegall (21Ox, 23C), according to a March 29 email from the Elections Board.
Noah Marchuck (24C), who was Stegall’s running mate, won the SGA vice presidential election on March 25, garnering 53.89% of votes. Due to the “no confidence” victory, Marchuck will become SGA president and appoint a new vice president, according to Elections Board Attorney General Stewart Zelnick (20Ox, 22C).
Marchuck did not respond for comment by press time.
This is the first time “no confidence” has won an SGA presidential election at Emory University, Elections Board Chair Mild Trakarnsakdikul (19Ox, 22B) said.
The results were emailed to the student body Tuesday evening after the voting period ended at 12 p.m. that day. “No confidence” received 656 (51.37%) votes, while Stegall garnered 621 (48.62%) votes. A total of 1,277 votes were cast in the race, a decrease from the 1,681 votes cast in the initial race.
SGA Vice President Elect Noah Marchuck (24C) will assume the office of the SGA President after “no confidence” won the runoff election with 51.37% of votes. Photo courtesy of Noah Marchuck
The March 29 email also announced that Dani Nakash (23B) won the BBA Council presidential runoff election. Nakash received 197 (62.53%) votes, while Natalie Spitzer (23B) earned 118 (37.46%) votes. A total of 315 votes were cast in the election.
Nakash earned 159 (49.22%) of the 323 votes cast in the initial election, while Spitzer received 123 (38.08%) votes. “No confidence” received 41 (12.69%) votes.
In a March 30 email to the Wheel, Nakash wrote she was “thrilled and humbled” to be elected as BBA Council president.
“This victory is a reflection of BBA student voices, and I will work tirelessly to advance the principles of transparency, inclusivity and diversity in our community,” Nakash said. “There is much work to be done — I look forward to the many opportunities to hear student voices and collaborate with BBA leaders toward the betterment of our great community.”
BBA Council President-elect Dani Nakash (23B). Photo courtesy of Dani Nakash
The SGA presidential election advanced to a runoff after neither Stegall nor “no confidence” received over 50% of the vote, according to a March 25 email from the elections board. “No confidence” received a plurality of the votes in the initial election, earning 785 (46.69%) votes. Stegall received 551 (32.77%) votes while Eleanor Liu (21Ox, 23B) finished last, securing 345 (20.52%) votes.
Elisabet Ortiz (24C) spearheaded the “no confidence” campaign after she was disqualified from the SGA presidential race due to her status as a gap year student. She encouraged students to vote “no confidence” in a March 19 Instagram post, stating that while the policy was intended to prevent non-Emory students, future students or abroad students from running, it discriminated against “disenfranchised students such as [herself] who are in legal limbo, on medical leaves of absence, or taking time off for mental health.”
Ortiz later announced that she withdrew from the race on March 21, but still campaigned for “no confidence” to “show SGA the necessity of changing its constitution to include marginalized voices.”
Neither Stegall nor Ortiz responded for comment by press time.
Nathan Rubin (25C) voted “no confidence” in both the initial and runoff elections, noting it was the only choice that “symbolized real change.”
“Years go around and I feel like nothing really changes structurally,” Rubin said. “Little things can change and people can say stuff in their speeches and campaigns, but I feel like ‘no confidence’ has the traction to maybe actually get some of those things done.”
Kevin Wu (23C), who endorsed Stegall and voted for her in both the initial and runoff elections, said he has known Stegall since high school and “knows the passion she has to make changes to the student body.”
“She actually did reach out to a lot of cultural clubs and asked them for their opinions on how to make the campus better, how to make it more inclusive and how to bridge the connections between different cultural groups,” Wu said. “That’s a really important thing, especially in a really diverse community.”
Marchuck and Nakash will be joining the other election winners, announced March 25, in office. Akshat Toshniwal (23C) won the College Council presidential election and Neha Murthy (24C) won the College Council vice presidential election.
Update (3/30/2022 at 10:21 a.m.): This article was updated to include comment from Dani Nakash (23B).
Madi Olivier is from Highland Village, Texas, and is majoring in psychology and minoring in rhetoric, writing and information design. Outside of the Wheel, she is involved in psychology research and works for the Trevor Project. In her free time, you can find her trying not to fall while bouldering and watching Criminal Minds with her cat.
