Moody wins presidential race; record turnout

By Molly Leaverton

Jennifer Moody and Julia Niles won the Associated Students presidential election yesterday in the student election with the largest voter turnout in "recorded history," AS officials said.

Moody and Niles received 58.27 percent of the vote. Runners up Adam Suleman and Hadyn Renfort received 573 votes, 41.73 percent of the total vote.

1,373 students (or 30.5 percent of the student body) voted, almost tripling last year's 12-percent voter turnout.

After criticism of low voter turnout in the past, AS implemented a new online voting system through eCampus for yesterday's elections.

"Voter turnout is the first step in getting people more involved in AS," said current AS Vice President Jasper Seldin.

There was one unforeseen glitch with the system that prevented some students with holds on their registrations from casting a regular ballot. As a result, 15.8 percent of voters had to cast provisional ballots with their e-mail attached that would later be checked individually by a member of AS.

In a debate held in the The Bronco Tuesday night, Moody said her close relationships with administrators and extensive experience with AS gave her an advantage over the opposing ticket. All candidates agreed that AS needs to work to foster better relationships with the students that they serve and promote student involvement.

"Students aren't as involved as they could be," Moody said in the debate. "We want you to know that we are going to be here for you."

Niles pledged to work with Moody to fight for the interests of the students. "I will challenge the administration to listen to the students, even if they don't agree," she said.

While Seldin praised the winners, he stressed the challenges ahead.

"The most important thing for AS to continue to do is to improving safety for students and working with the administration," he said.

In the senate chair race, Anton Zanotto defeated Jamie Nally, recieving 60.92 percent of votes.

Zanotto plans to expand the senate's duties to "more than just handing out money, which is what most students believe is all we do."

"If AS senate is suppose to be representative of the student body, it is time that it reflect that. I have a desire to create change," he said in the debate Tuesday.

In other election results, Andrea Nicholson and Victoria Soto were elected as senior senators. Olivia Sorrell won as the only candidate for Junior Senator.

Crystalyn Hoffman, Jill Carleton, Peter Lo and Scarlette McKenzie were elected as sophomore senators.

There are five senate seats allotted for each class. All unfilled seats will be appointed by the senate chair.

Contact Molly Leaverton at (408) 554-4546 or mleaverton@scu.edu.