The results are in, but the election is not over.
Ziya Kardas and Jozef Gherman are still in the running for student body president. During last week’s race, Gherman’s ticket received 332 votes, while Kardas’ ticket received 140. In order to win, a candidate must earn more than 50 percent of the votes, so Gherman’s 49.85 percent prompted a runoff election.
The other two tickets, Teral Hilliard/Victor Sims and Nia Joseph/Chardonnay Tyson, received 111 and 83 votes respectively.
Only 666 of the nearly 5,000 USF St. Petersburg students voted in the elections.
The senate election was uncontested, but each candidate had to receive at least 25 votes. All were successful. Nicholas Patides led with 338 votes, followed by Angela Wilson, Beenly Khoum, Natalie Guerra and Catherine Kouretsos.
Voting in the runoff election will begin at midnight Tuesday Feb. 24 and end at 5 p.m. on Wednesday. The results will be announced Wednesday night. As of right now, it is uncertain whether there will be a debate, and if so, when it will occur.
The tickets have continued campaigning since the results were announced Thursday night.
“A lot of people get the impression that Student Government is somewhat disconnected from the student body, but it’s experiences like this that bring it back home and remind us why we’re here and who we’re working for,” Gherman said, reflecting on his campaign.
Kardas said running for president has been a learning experience for himself and Uber, which has led to new friendships within the university.
“We will be able to reach out to the vast majority of non-traditional students, which will create culture and strengthen our community,” he said. “Uber and I are both parents and are family-oriented, so we believe that our community at USFSP should be just that # a family.”
The outcome of the elections is riding on more than votes. On Feb. 23, the Election Rules Committee will rehear three grievances made by three students against Gherman’s ticket. The ERC originally met last Wednesday, but they did not send out a public notice for the meeting, nullifying the results. The meeting will take place in Student Life Center 1500 at 5 p.m.
Votes received by each presidential campaign:
Gherman/Salazar: 332 votes, 48.85 percent
Kardas/Uber: 140 votes, 21.02 percent
Hilliard/Sims: 111 votes, 16.67 percent
Joseph/Tyson: 83 votes, 12.46 percent
Elected senators:
Nicholas Patides
Angela Wilson
Beenly Khoum
Natalie Guerra
Catherine Kouretsos
Laraine Ruiz
Alicia Bargardo
Emilie Morris
Antonio Permuy
Kevin Erickson
Wayne Nealy
Beth Cooney
Michael Fieramosca
