Ana Garcia, an international business senior, won a full seat representing the College of Business on the Associated Students Council in a runoff election held Nov. 25 and 26.
Garcia received six votes in the runoff election to win the full seat, which lasts for a year starting in February. Chris Shoop, a business administration major, received four votes to win a half seat, which will last for a semester beginning in February.
The results of this election will not be official until approved by the Associated Students at the next council meeting on Dec. 4.
Elections manager Heidi Woods said she thinks the low turnout of only 10 people was due to the lack of exposure for the election.
“We tried to get a display ad in The Daily Aztec, but we missed the deadline,” Woods said. Instead, the elections committee placed a classified advertisement in the Nov. 26 issue. Woods said most of the publicity for the election comes from the candidates.
The runoff election was necessary because Garcia and Shoop tied for a full seat and a half seat in the A.S. general election held Nov. 11 to 14. After Garcia and Shoop tied for the two seats, the elections committee wrote down Garcia and Shoop’s names twice, placed the four pieces of paper in a hat and chose the winner of the full seat, which was Garcia.
But when the elections committee minutes, which included the results of the election, came to the A.S. Council Nov. 20 for approval, the council said in a 14-6 vote that a runoff election should be held to decide who should get the full seat and who should get the half seat.
The elections committee held a special meeting Nov. 21 to organize the runoff election in accordance with A.S. bylaws.
According to Article II, Section 3.11 of the Elections Code, “In the event of a tie vote for two or more candidates for the same elected office, the Committee shall determine and publish a date for a runoff election in all available media. The date shall be within fourteen (14) calendar days of the first election.”
Woods said the A.S. bylaws might be amended so that if two people again tie for two seats, as Garcia and Shoop did, there won’t be confusion.
The elections committee is budgeted from the Associated Students $11,729 to conduct two elections this year, one each semester. Woods said the runoff election was not included in the elections committee budget, so the money for the runoff election will be taken from the budget for the spring election and then the budget will be revised during winter break.
Woods said a runoff wasn’t budgeted because it had been eight to 10 years since a runoff was necessary.
The runoff election cost an estimated $357, which includes the salary of the elections manager, Woods; the salary of the public safety officer who escorts the ballot box to and from the Public Safety Office and poll site; and radios so members of the elections committee could communicate from the different poll sites.
In the general election, two other representatives for the College of Business, Mike Bihlmeier and Gina Paoni, were re-elected to Council.
