RUNOFF

TWO CANDIDATES. 2,986 votes cast. With enough write-ins on the ballot to prevent a majority winner, who will be the next SGA president? Only a runoff will decide

By Ashley Hopkins, news editor
Posted on October 8, 2007

The results of the SGA presidential election are in: It’s a tie.

llk Ghavami, senator for the College of Math and Science, won 49.833 percent of the votes.  Lee Brooks, vice president of administrative affairs, received 49.196 and the rest went to write-in candidates.  Since neither of the top two candidates landed a majority, a runoff election must be held.

Ghavami and Brooks have an additional week to campaign and a re-vote will be held on Thursday, from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m..  To ensure a winner, students will not have the option of voting for a write-in candidate.

Despite the delay, it seems as though both candidates are looking forward to the next election.  While 3,000 students, roughly 18 percent of JMU’s campus voted, having another election will allow both candidates another opportunity to campaign, giving them a second chance at pulling in more voters.

“I think what people should understand from this is that every vote counts,” Brooks said.  “One friend telling a few of their friends really makes an outcome in the election.  I’m ready to campaign another week.  I’m really excited about it.”

Ghavami was also optimistic about the next election.  He said he thinks that the additional time will allow students who may have been relying on hearsay about the candidates to become more informed about their individual platforms.

“I think delaying the process for another week actually ends up being a good thing because it allows for another week of campaigning; it’s another week for students to get the message,” he said.  “The votes are split.  [Additional campaigning] allows for people to see both sides of the story a little more.”

The tie was not the only loop thrown Ghavami’s way this week.  The day of the election, Thursday, the elections commission made him stop campaigning an hour and 20 minutes before voting ended because of a violation.

Before hosting a “Take Your Professor to Lunch” session on Thursday, Ghavami forgot to take off his “Got Ilk?” election T-shirt.   Since the SGA sponsors this event and is supposed to remain neutral, this was a violation of election policy.

“Our definition of campaigning includes wearing campaign materials,” said Sen. Sarah Piñeres, a member of the elections committee, adding that Ghavami’s violation will not affect his campaign during the new election period.

So far, student opinion is mixed regarding the coming election.

Sophomore Leanna Caplan thought the re-vote was fair.

“I don’t think it’s bad,” she said.  “Maybe a re-vote could cause more people to vote.”

Freshman Anna Erickson disagreed.

“I think it’s been drawn on too long and they should let the person with the most votes win.”