Junior Jordan Giordano was elected Duke Student Government president for the 2008-2009 academic year Friday, following an election marred by software complications.
"I was pretty excited when I heard, and I'm really looking forward to next year," he said. "Looking at the new [executive board], we probably have more experience and come from more diverse backgrounds than [past executive boards]. I think we can accomplish great things."
Giordano, who currently serves as the body's executive vice president, received 48.5 percent of the 2,508 ballots cast before winning a required majority in a runoff.
Juniors Kevin Troy, Lawrence Chen and Andrew Tutt finished second, third and fourth, respectively.
Current President Paul Slattery, a senior, said he expects Giordano to continue running the organization at the same level as past leaders.
"I obviously wish [Giordano] a great deal of luck, and I've already begun to sit down and talk about the transfer of projects for next year," Slattery said.
Troy and Tutt said they accept the voters' choice and expect Giordano will do a good job.
"Obviously I would prefer that it had been me that won," Tutt said. "But I think that now we just all have to go forward with the government as it may be and fall in line behind the new president."
Junior Lauren Maisel, sophomore Chelsea Goldstein and freshman Mike Lefevre were selected as vice presidents for student affairs, academic affairs and athletics and campus services, respectively.
Candidates for three offices ran unopposed. Junior Sunny Kantha, currently vice president for athletics and campus services, will serve as executive vice president. Two new positions-vice president for Durham and regional affairs and vice president for community interaction-will be held by freshman Andrew Brown and junior Amanda Tong, respectively. The positions split the duties of the current vice president for community interaction.
Runoffs were required for the offices of president and vice president of student affairs. According to DSG bylaws, runoff elections will continue until a candidate has obtained at least 50 percent of the vote.
Students were asked to rank candidates in order of preference to avoid lengthy runoffs. If a candidate did not receive the majority of first-choice votes, the candidate finishing last in the initial round was removed from the race. The ballots of those who selected the removed candidate were subsequently distributed to the voters' second-choice candidates.
Attorney General Paul Zarian, a sophomore, said Giordano and Goldstein were the clear winners after the first round of runoffs.
A runoff was not necessary for vice president for athletics and campus services, but Zarian said it was the "most interesting," as Lefevre won by a margin of 0.09 percent with just four votes securing his position over opponent Brett Aresco, a junior.
"[When Slattery called me,] he didn't mention quite what the margin was-he just told me it was pretty close, so I thought I won by a narrow margin, but I had no idea it was four votes," Lefevre said.
In an e-mail sent to students Friday, Slattery encouraged increased voter turnout, promising to shave his head if turnout reached 45 percent.
"You can make me a lame duck and make a substantial contribution to campus hygiene all at the same time," he wrote.
Slattery said despite a 41-vote increase from last year, the 40.5 percent turnout was not enough to follow through, and his promise may not have swayed students to vote.
"There's an argument there that if you only have people voting because they would rather have the current president look less like a muppet, then it's not an ideal motivation to vote," he said.
The election schedule was changed multiple times, and as of early Thursday morning, Zarian had postponed elections to Friday. An e-mail to students later Thursday, however, indicated that polls were open. Otherwise, Zarian said the process went smoothly, but student voters said the process was more difficult than in past years.
"I know a lot of people who couldn't vote because it was so confusing," said junior Kim Imbesi. "I'm friends with one of the candidates, so I kind of made it my job to figure it out. But it didn't work the first time, and it had all these instructions that didn't tell you anything."
Slattery said although plans for major DSG initiatives are in the works for the upcoming year, he is pessimistic about their chances.
"This year has made me a bit cynical about Duke's interest in and capacity to change," he said. "My advice would be unflappable skepticism in the face of purported administrative support and preparation for frustration and public derision."
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