UPDATE: Run-off Election To Be Held March 3; UPDATE: Recount Finished, Votes Still Tied at 901-901; SGA Presidential Race Results In A Tie, Vote Recount Underway
UPDATE: In a third email, SGA has announced that a run-off election for SGA president will be held one week from now on March 3.
White responded in a school-wide email: “While I wish that we’d won this morning, I’m glad to hear students at Smith will have another chance to make a change in the student government. I hope we can all come out on March 3 and make our voices heard.”
“The students spoke this morning and decided to keep their current government,” Johnson emailed students minutes later. “I think that’ll be reaffirmed on March 3.”
UPDATE: In a second email, SGA’s Vice President, Jake Martin, announced that SGA members have finished their recount and that the votes are still tied with each candidate receiving 901 votes.
The 13 members, excluding Johnson and White, are debating when, and under what circumstances, to hold another vote.
The Barton-Smith College Student Government Presidential election has resulted in a tie between its two candidates, Paul Johnson and Rebecca White.
The Student Government Association (SGA) broke the news that each candidate received 901 votes via email to all 4,511 students.
With no procedure in place to break a tie vote, SGA announced, in its email, that its 13 members, excluding Johnson and White, would conduct an immediate recount at the request of White’s campaign.
Johnson, a senior majoring in economics, is the incumbent. White, a senior majoring in communication, ran to unseat him.
Both Johnson and White were elected to SGA as freshmen. As a sophomore, Johnson had served as vice president of SGA. White had served as chair of the Event Planning Committee.
In a debate held two weeks ago at Jubilee Hall, Johnson highlighted his accomplishments as president, including a pilot program to let commuters use the lounges in student dorms. He called a vote for him “a vote for decisive leadership.” At the same debate, White criticized Johnson’s “insular management style,” and promised to hold a referendum each semester on issues facing students in order to get more people involved in the student government’s decision-making.
White sent out an email response: “I’ve asked for a recount because half the school voted for change this morning, and I owe it to them to be sure the result is accurate.”
Johnson countered minutes later: “I want to congratulate Rebecca White on a close race. I think the results speak for themselves, though. The students here at Smith are satisfied with their government, and do not want to change it. I think the recount will confirm that.