Mirbagheri, Randall face off for president

The USG announced the results of its executive and senatorial elections today — putting Sonya Mirbagheri '04 and Pettus Randall '04 in the runoff for president.

Mirbagheri received 884 votes in the first round of voting, said USG elections manager Michael Kimberly '03. Randall got 544 votes, while U-Council chair Josh Anderson '04 received 542 votes. The two-vote difference means that, barring any revision of the results, Randall will face Mirbagheri in a runoff beginning at midnight tonight.

Anderson speculated last night that if election totals are not revised — and a runoff takes place between Randall and Mirbagheri — many of his supporters may vote for Randall. "My supporters share with him a belief that the USG should take on more substantive issues," said Anderson.

Anderson also said he has asked the USG for a recount. The USG receives registered election results from the Registrar's office, Kimberly explained.

"Unfortunately, there's no process by which we can have a recount," Kimberly said. Kimberly said he would ask Laurie Smethurst, a registrar's office employee who handles the online elections, to double check her work, but that he considered it very unlikely that the result would change.

All voting takes place online. Out of 2,555 votes cast in the presidential election, 34 were reported on the official printout from the Registrar's office as "Invalid (blank)," Kimberly said. Kimberly explained that this meant people cast ballots without selecting a candidate, but Anderson suggested that students who mistyped their social security numbers may have been responsible for the invalid votes. "Apparently, there are 34 votes out there that very likely represent people who tried to vote fairly," Anderson said.

Octavio Carrasco '04 polled 432 votes in the presidential race, while Cameron Koczon '04 received 153.

Brooke Stoddard '05 and Jacqui Perlman '05 will compete in the runoff for vice president. In the first round, Perlman received 1,127 to Stoddard's 685. David Khalil '05 and Derek Jun '05 received 261 votes and 217 votes, respectively.

The other USG positions up for grabs were determined in the first round of elections. Kyle Detwiler '05, who ran unopposed, will serve as treasurer. William Robinson '04 will be undergraduate life chair. Amy Saltzman '05 was elected academics chair, and Kelechi Acholonu '05 won the race for campus and community affairs chair.

Mirbagheri described her campaign thus far as "an amazing experience." Her platform has centered on the slogan, "Actions speak louder than words," citing her numerous accomplishments as USG vice president.

Randall also expressed excitement over the voter numbers.

"It's clear that a lot of students want to see change in student government," he said.

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Stoddard said he was "thrilled" about his spot in the vice presidential runoffs. He said he does not plan to make any changes to his campaigning strategy for this final stage of elections.

An equally excited Perlman said it was "an honor to know that students on campus trust me and like my platform." She said she is looking forward to continuing her campaign.

"For the next two short days, I'm going to continue to meet as many students as possible. I care very much about what everyone has to say," she said.

Brad Flora '04 won reelection as a class Senator, and will be joined by Joanna Deitch '04. Jonathan Chavkin '05, Adam Kopald '05, Camille Coates '06 and Karis Gong '06 were also elected class senators.