SGA election down to two
Becky Brandenburg
Staff Reporter

And your Student Government Association president is ... going to be decided in a runoff election Friday.

None of the four candidates garnered 51 percent of the vote required for SGA officer elections, so the top two candidates, Jay Zeidman and Blake Eason, will face off in one more election.

Zeidman, a junior political science major, led Eason, a junior finance major, 756 votes to 452. Zeidman’s votes comprised 44 percent of the total 1,723 cast.

Senior entrepreneurial business major Jason Ruth and Anthony Oppermann, a junior radio-TV-film major, took 249 and 242 of the votes respectively.

In the first election, 2,372 students voted.

Oppermann said he was not surprised by the weaker voter turnout Wednesday and does not anticipate as many voting Friday.

“I think the lack of professionalism, the lack of communication in the election, effected voter turnout,” he said.

Ruth said he was disappointed more voters did not turn out, but the loss would not affect his willingness to serve the incoming president in whatever capacity he might be useful.

Both Zeidman and Eason said they are excited about the election Friday and intend to campaign today and encourage students to cast their ballot.

“I hope that kids will show up and vote,” Zeidman said. “I have great respect for all the candidates who have run this difficult race.”

Zeidman said he feels any credibility that was lost in the first election must be restored as soon as possible.

The winner will join the officers: House Vice President Megan Brown, a sophomore political science major; Programming Council Vice President Sebastian Moleski, a sophomore international economics major; Secretary Corrie Lockhart, a sophomore advertising and public relations major; and Treasurer David Watson, a sophomore entrepreneurial management major.

The re-election was a result of election code violations by candidates for president during the campaign and on election day Nov. 11.

Blake Eason, a junior finance major, was initially removed from the presidential race for violating code 3.2.12, which prohibits “unauthorized presence” on university premises. Eason and supporters campaigned door-to-door in residence halls without permission from the hall directors or the election administrator, said Nick James, a junior political science major.

Donuts, which qualified as campaign materials, were handed out by Zeidman and Brown. Their actions violated code 3.11, which prohibits handing out campaign materials on election day. Code violation charges were dropped when the unidentified person who filed the charge withdrew it.

James said he and the Election and Input Committee have worked hard this election.

“Being a part of SGA, we each work to help representatives be heard and achieve their goals and our own,” he said.

James said he encourages students to cast their votes Friday and looks forward to beginning next semester with the new officers.