The Duke Student Government polls will be open today for legislative and class officer races, a result of the successful passage of a referendum on the March executive election ballot that moved elections from the fall to the spring and redefined senators' constituencies. In previous years, legislative elections were based upon residential location and held in the fall.
Undergraduates will have the opportunity to vote for two members of their class for each of the four DSG committees--Athletics and Campus Services, Community Interaction, Academic Affairs and Student Affairs--as well as for their class president, vice president, treasurer and secretary. The polls will be open on DSG's website from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and polling stations will be open throughout campus from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Several races, including rising junior and senior senatorial contests and officer elections for all of the classes, are uncontested or without candidates. DSG officials, however, maintain that the relatively small number of upperclassmen candidates is typical.
"In years past, the non-freshmen legislative elections have had uncontested elections," DSG attorney general David Kahne said. "Also in years past, the off-campus election rarely had enough candidates."
Upon logging onto the Internet polling station, students will only have the option of voting for their class senators and officers.
Running for the Class of 2007's Athletics and Campus Services seats are Atin Garg, Michael Paul Kaplanis, Maia Pelleg, Melissa Richer, Megan Smith and David Snider; running for the Community Interaction seats are Patrick Erker, George Fleming, Lauren Garson, Tyler Green, Lian Huang, Steven Immelman, David Lee and Maggie McGannon; running for the Academic Affairs seats are Daniel Bowes, David Cardenas, Will Cooper, Mariana Cotlear, David Fiedler, Arun Iyer and Adam Mintz; and running for the Student Affairs seats are Hali Cooperman-Dix, Brittany Greenfield, Daron Gunn, Ross Katz, Tiffany Labon and Peter Williams.
Russ Ferguson, Tom Musgrave and Paige Sparkman are running for the Class of 2006's Student Affairs seats; Victoria Cantore is running unopposed for the Athletics and Campus Services seat; Jonathan Agudelo will fill the Academic Affairs seat and no one is running for the Community Interaction seat.
Only one of the Class of 2005's senatorial races is contested. George Crowell, Brett Goodwin and Katherine Robinson will face off for the Student Affairs position. Ricky Chen is up for the Academic Affairs seat, Matt DeTura and Mimi Wachendorf are running for the Athletics and Campus Services positions and Meredith Levy will fill the Community Interaction seat.
Only five of the 12 class officer elections are contested. Wei-Chung Chen and Elizabeth Dixon will face off for the Class of 2005 secretary position. Emily Aviki, Jamison Minkoff and Steven Shuffer are running for the Class of 2006 presidency, and Jonathan Patillo and Paige Sparkman are vying for the class' vice presidential seat.
The Class of 2007's presidential and vice presidential seats are also both contested--Remington Kendall and Maia Pelleg are challenging for the top position, and Megan Smith and Ryan Strasser are vying for the vice presidency.
In the uncontested races, Avery Capone is poised to assume the presidency of the Class of 2005, Jeremy Chapman will fill that class' vice presidential seat and Jill Hopman will become treasurer. Dana Morgan will fill the Class of 2006's treasurer position and Brooke Levin will become secretary. Daron Gunn will assume the treasurer position for the Class of 2007 and no one has declared a candidacy for the secretary position.
In the fall, DSG will fill open seats with at-large senators through an application process. Each class' president-elect will also fill any vacancies in the class officer positions by appointment.
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