Junior Liv McKinney to be next Duke Student Government president

Junior Liv McKinney was elected the 2019-2020 Duke Student Government president by undergraduates this week.

McKinney is currently the vice president of the DSG services and sustainability committee. She previously told The Chronicle that her greatest accomplishment thus far is increasing the number of food points in the first-year meal plan from 500 to 800.

McKinney won with 54.19 percent of the 2,326 votes cast. Junior Daisy Almonte came in second with 29.83 percent of votes, followed by junior Saheel Chodavadia, who received 15.97 percent, wrote first-year John Markis, DSG attorney general and a staff reporter for The Chronicle. No instant runoff round was necessary based on these results since McKinney won a majority of votes during the first round.

McKinney previously told The Chronicle that she aims to establish a formal support network that helps students find credit and create a budget plan for after graduation. The Ohio native also said she wants to create a comprehensive guide to help first-years navigate the hidden costs of attending Duke. 

“There [are] a ton of hidden costs with attending [Duke], from books to laundry to even summer storage,” she told The Chronicle. “We really need to bring these costs to light, be transparent about how much it really costs to go to school here and have resources in place to either make these costs affordable for students or support them if they struggle.”

She also aims to increase accessibility on campus, and campaigned on goals of working with Duke Facilities Management to either expand its existing budget or create a separate budget dedicated to installing automatic openers and ramps, expanding door widths and building more bathrooms. 

Junior Avery Boltwood, currently president pro tempore of the Senate, was chosen as the new executive vice president. Boltwood ran unopposed in the election, and about 84 percent of voters voted for them, with about 16 percent voting "no confidence," Markis wrote.

Last year, 2,432 students voted, compared to this year's 2,326. Current President Kristina Smith, a senior, won after four rounds of instant runoff voting and a DSG Judiciary hearing about the use of an iPad during the campaign.