Duke Student Government will soon welcome new first-years to the Senate.
The Class of 2026 voted for first-year senators from Oct. 5 at noon to Oct. 6 at noon, with 539 students participating — this yields a voter turnout of over 30%. Attorney General Nellie Sun, a senior, shared the results with The Chronicle by email.
This year's first-year elections saw new reforms that sought to clarify the election process and increase DSG's transparency, including shadowing Senate meetings, observing committee meetings, and an increased number of information sessions. The election and at-large application deadlines were also pushed back.
Candidates had to collect at least 25 signatures by Sept. 28 to be eligible according to DSG’s election bylaws.
In DSG’s instant-runoff voting system, voters rank candidates in order, with votes being redistributed in successive rounds as the lowest-ranked candidates are eliminated. At the end of the process, two first-years are elected to each committee. No other candidate this year qualified for the election of the Equity and Outreach Committee, according to Sun.
More first-years will enter the Senate through the at-large process, decided by interviews with a selection committee rather than elections. At-large applications were due on Sept. 28, and interviews will take place on Oct. 16-18.
The newly elected representatives are as follows:
Academic Affairs: Andy Li and Lila Gimbel
Campus Life: Comfort Markwei and Greg Sexton
Durham and Community Affairs: Aubteen Pour-Biazar and Shivani Vyas
Equity and Outreach: Kora Sotunde
Services and Sustainability: Isa Helton and Matthew Xu
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Milla Surjadi is a Trinity junior and a diversity, equity and inclusion coordinator of The Chronicle's 119th volume. She was previously editor-in-chief for Volume 118.