Jihan Soliman, Student Bar Association president, and Erika Kane, supervisor of elections, released a joint statement that read: "We hope to resolve these matters as soon as possible." The message was taped alongside the 1L results and emailed to students. Until the investigation is complete, second-year students will remain without two senators.
Soliman said she was disappointed overall with the low number of voters.
"I want to make sure all the students are heard," she said just prior to posting the results. "That's the democratic process. You have to participate." She would like to see at least half of the first-year class, which is made up of 440 students, take to the polls. She estimates less than 100 votes were cast over a two-day period, which began Monday morning and ended Tuesday evening. Jenna Winchester, a senator running for section D, won for senator at large with the most votes of 82.
Michael Hellman, who also ran for section D, did not win. And he's not surprised. He said that he never really told anyone to vote, much less, vote for him. He just placed a poster in the cafeteria. But, for what it's worth, it was an entertaining poster. He glued a picture of his head on the body of Superman. Planet earth was in the background just below. His campaign slogan: Vote for Michael Hellman. He's out of this world. He now understands that the clever poster could not compete with people who were actually campaigning. "I didn't want to pester people," he said.
Winner Jason Emert of section a cracked a smiled after seeing his name highlighted in yellow. He had no problem speaking with people; it is actually all he did. No poster. No gimmicks. Just hand shakes.
"I feel excited for the opportunity to lead," Emert said. Prior to joining the law school, he was the president of the MBA Association at the University of Louisiana. He believes he can make a difference. "I want to be open and accessible to address all the concerns," he said. "I want to build a bridge from the 1Ls to the current SBA leadership."
Emert can put his plan into action starting tomorrow, after he and the five other new senators are sworn in during the SBA senate meeting, which will take place in room A110 at 12:30 p.m.
"I look forward to working with all the new senators," said Janet Stearns, dean of students.
2L Special Election Election Results Announced
University of Miami
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