By the numbers
This past week, LUCC held its annual presidential and vice presidential elections. According to LUCC’s polling, elections, and leadership commitee, Jacques Hacquebord won the presidential race over his opponent Jamie Howard, with 57.4 percent and 42.6 percent of the vote respectivly.
A total of 780 legal ballots were cast, with Hacquebord winning 448 and Howard 332. Eighty-four illegal ballots (write-ins, blank ballots, or any other votes that did not follow standard voting procedure) were cast.
The vice-presidential election results were Ned Connors with 39.8 percent of the vote, Kassandra Kuehl with 34.8 percent, and Alexis Sexton with 25.4 percent. Of the total 810 legal ballots cast, Connors recieved 332 votes, Kuehl 282, and Sexton 206. There were 54 illegal ballots.
While Connors earned a greater percentage of the vote, LUCC by-laws state that in order to win the election, a candidate must recieve 50 percent plus one of the legal votes. “Instant run-off” was was put on the ballots to help settle the election. Instant run-off is decided when voters fill in their second and third choice for the position, in case their first choice does not win a majority. These choices then count as the vote. However, no cadidate won a majority in this manner either. In the instant run-off election, Connors recieved 46.2 percent (374 votes) and Kuehl 43.3 percent (351 votes) Eighty-four ballots (10.5 percent) selected no instant run-off candidate.
Concurrent with LUCC by-laws, a run-off election between Connors and Kuehl started Wednesday and finished today at the end of lunch. The results were not available at publication time.*
Last year, 461 votes were cast in the LUCC presidential race. This year’s voter turn out is a 46.6 percent increase. For vice president, last year 437 votes were cast compared to this year’s 810, a 46 percent increase.
The committee attributes the increase to “increased polling presence, effective advertisement, better election equipment, and poll worker enthusiasm.”
* The results from the vice-presidential run-off are in, with Ned Connors taking in 287 votes to Kass Keuhl’s 240.
Jacques Haquebord, LUCC president for 2003-2004, beginning in Term 3 (Julien Poncet)