FAMU Vice-President for Student Affairs William Hudson, Jr. has ordered the Student Government Association (SGA) Electoral Commission to schedule a run-off election for the positions of student body president and vice-president.The SGA general election took place on Feb. 21. The results were: Marissa West & Michael Jefferson (939), Justin McCorvey & Ariana Williams (864), Anthony Siders & Sean Siders (404).
Even though candidates West and Jefferson won the most votes in the three-way race, they did not cross the 50 percent mark. The Electoral Commission did not hold a runoff election because it had disqualified the two remaining tickets. The commissioners did not explain how the election process could be final if no ticket had received 50 percent plus one of the vote.
The McCovery/Williams and Siders/Siders campaigns appealed their disqualifications on the basis of the fact that the Electoral Commission penalized them with a point-system that had not received an affirmative vote from the Student Senate. The Student Body Statutes require two-thirds of the senators to approve the point-system used to assess campaign violations.
Hudson’s office heard the appeal due to the fact that the Student Supreme Court does not have quorum. He found that the Electoral Commission violated the statutes by failing to use a legal point-system.
"Since no ticket for the SGA president/vice president position received a majority vote (50% + 1), then a run-off must occur with the two tickets receiving the highest vote count,” Hudson wrote in his ruling. "Accordingly, a run-off election must occur between the tickets of West/Jefferson (939 votes) and McCorvey/Williams (864 votes). The ticket of Siders/Siders finished third in the voting with 404 votes, and is therefore not eligible for the run-off elections."
The run-off election will take place on April 10.