Updated 3:10 a.m. Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Following a three-hour discussion by the Duke Student Government Judiciary, John Harpham was officially confirmed Wednesday to be the winner of the undergraduate Young Trustee election.
As of 9:15 p.m. Tuesday, senior John Harpham, former chair of The Chronicle’s independent Editorial Board, was declared winner of the undergraduate Young Trustee election. But Junior Gregory Morrison, DSG Executive Vice President and Young Trustee candidate Chelsea Goldstein, a senior and former DSG vice president for student affairs, filed complaints to the DSG Judiciary against the Young Trustee Nominating Committee's management of the election process and campaign materials.
The Judiciary convened in the DSG office to review and discuss the complaints, deciding at approximately 2:30 a.m. that the YTNC acted constitutionally and ruling that the election results stood as approved. The previous deadline for a decision was set at 1 a.m.
Goldstein's complaint pertained to issues regarding Harpham's campaign video challenging basketball player Nolan Smith to a one-on-one basketball game and endorsement letters. The Judiciary rejected Goldstein's complaints, noting that the committee has the autonomy to determine the methodology by which it enforces its policies and was not in violation of its bylaws.
The YTNC had validated the election results after the votes were tallied Tuesday evening, said sophomore Pete Schork, DSG vice president for athletics and campus services and a YTNC member. It is still unclear who called the meeting and whether that person has the authority to do so, Schork added.
Morrison's complaint asserted that the YTNC validation was, in fact, invalid because the YTNC vote in favor of approving the election results did not satisfy the requirements for a two-thirds approval. The Judiciary discarded the complaint, noting that the bylaws do not call for a two-thirds vote to validate results. Harpham said he and third Young Trustee candidate Zach Perret, a senior and Duke University Union president, were not informed of the Judiciary's deliberations.
As the votes stand, Harpham and Goldstein are separated by approximately 0.1 percent, but neither obtained a majority vote. The Young Trustee selection bylaws do not specify whether a candidate must have a majority of the vote to win the election.
After an instant runoff election, Harpham was elected over Goldstein by two votes, said Young Trustee Nominating Committee Chair Lauren Moxley, a sophomore.
Perret received 442 votes before the runoff, most of which were distributed to Goldstein and Harpham during the instant runoff based on those who voted for Perret’s second-choice candidates. A total of 2169 ballots were cast: Harpham received a final 1054 votes, Goldstein received 1052.
Electronic ballots asked for students’ first, second and third choice candidates for Young Trustee. Due to the nature of the ballot, however, voters could select a single candidate for more than one preference.
As a result, 44 of those who voted for Perret selected Perret as both their first and second choice candidates. An additional 21 voters abstained from selecting another preference, and one empty ballot was submitted.
The Chronicle will be updating as information becomes available. Check back for more later or follow us on Twitter @DukeChronicle for instant updates.
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