|
news
A.S.I.
off to the races in election run-offs
By Alisha Gomez
On-line Forty-Niner
With a tie vote
percentage, Danny Vivian and Oron Maher will fight for the
position of Associated Students Inc. president, according
to the official election results.
Both candidates received 27.3 percent of the votes, but there
was a one-vote difference between the two.
Vice president and treasurer offices also have run-offs. Sharokh
Sheik and Amber Smith face off for vice president; Sheik received
48.2 percent of the vote and Smith received 43.1 percent.
Aristotle Tsekouras (44.9 percent of the votes) and Alejandro
Negrete(28.7 percent) are the two candidates battling it out
for treasurer.
Despite a current opinion article written by one of the staff
members of the On-line Forty-Niner, Maher said that a good
thing came from all the coverage.
"The good thing about the article is that it got more
people talking about the elections in general," Maher
said. "It generated more awareness about the elections
on campus."
He said he thinks his chances are good against Vivian.
"I think the students have had the chance to see Danny
in the office and when it comes time to make a choice they
know I have the leadership experience for the position,"
Maher said. "I'd like to get in there and make changes
right away."
Vivian said he is very confident about the next run-off election.
"I was expecting a run-off," Vivian said. "I
have good chance because I am currently vice president and
I have a lot of experience."
Vivian said he knows of some fallout candidates whose supporters
are going to lean his way.
"It was a positive election," he said. "They
tried to get students to vote and they did and that was really
great. The A.S. is doing really well; we've gotten more funding
and accomplished new projects and I am proud to be a part
of that. Students see that."
Current A.S.I. President Wayne Stickney-Smith is endorsing
Vivian and said that he thinks his support has gotten him
some votes he may have not gotten otherwise. Despite the fact
that the two are friends, he said Vivian is a very well qualified
candidate and good person. However, he has helped Maher with
his campaign by giving him advice and tips.
The voter turnout was up 29 percent from last year and Mike
Johnson, an elections commissioner for A.S.I., said it was
the second highest voter turnout in 10 years. 3,910 students
turned out to vote.
"To an extent the higher turnout was because of the big
number of candidates, having a lot of poll workers, good ones,
who really worked on getting people to vote," Johnson
said.
Run off elections are Tuesday and Wednesday. The number of
polling locations will be reduced to three (the ramp base,
the west turnaround and library locations), but the hours
to vote will still be from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Johnson said the run-off candidates have another $250 to campaign
with for the next few days.
For the other two offices, the candidates do not plan on changing
their campaign tactics much.
Sheik said he thinks he will do well in the run-off election,
but also said that it is a whole new race and he is starting
over.
"I might try some different strategies for campaigning,"
Sheik said. "My goal is to just pretty much get out there."
Smith was unavailable for comment.
Tsekouras said he has an uphill battle for treasurer.
"Election history shows that the underdog wins,"
Tsekouras said. "But I have the Greek support, athletic
support and business students' support."
He said he plans on just making himself highly visible these
next couple of days.
His opponent, Negrete, is not surprised at the run-off, but
glad he is in it. His thoughts on campaigning the next few
days are to start right away.
"This time I really want to change things and get on
top of campaigning right away," he said. "My chances
are good. I've seen in the past three years that it doesn't
matter if you are the underdog. I just want to show students
I want to work hard for them."
|
|
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Search our site
DEPARTMENT
OF
JOURNALISM
ONLINE 49ER
DEPARTMENTS
ADVERTISING
ADMINISTRATION
DAILY
49ER ALUMNI
SUBSCRIPTION
SERVICE
GIVE
FEEDBACK
|
