Political science junior Sam Dike and communication junior Jonas Chin are the new Student Government Association president and vice-president after record voter turnout, the Student Government Election Commission announced.
Dike and Chin received 1,923 votes out of a total 2,752 cast in that race, beating marketing senior Kelli Harper and running mate chemistry and political science senior Judah Johns, who received 829 votes. Dike and Chin will officially take office on April 1.
Chief Election Commissioner Josh Sarkar said despite a few technical glitches with minimal complaints, the commission was pleased overall with the election turnout. The election, which would have ended 8 p.m. March 13, was extended because some students said when they logged in to vote, candidates from other colleges appeared on their ballot.
"We can’t argue with the best numbers ever," Sarkar said.
Sarkar said this election’s turnout of 3,050 was higher than last year’s and many of the races were competitive. Last year’s voter turnout was about 2,900 and the total number of students who voted the year before was about 1,500.
Business Seat 5 candidate Mariam Zakaria received 150 votes, beating her opponent Jared Lopez by one vote. Seven of the 19 contested races were won by a margin of less than 30 votes.
"Students should know that every vote counts," Sarkar said.
Dike said the election turnout showed excitement for the SGA Senate and how students can stand up for the University.
"I’m really, really excited about the turnout this year," he said.
Dike said as the new SGA president, he plans to focus on initiatives that haven’t been focused on in the past.
"The main thing is about empowering students, elevating the student experience and improving student services," he said.
Dike said he plans on developing ways to empower students and ways to deal with problems. He said he wants to work toward building the UH community and implementing college councils where students can voice their concerns and have direct contact with their college deans. He also said he wants to create a student academic bill of rights to outline student responsibilities and rights.
Dike said he also plans to develop a state-wide alliance of students to address coming issues in higher education to the Texas Legislature and implementing a system other colleges have where the library would have longer hours.
Chin said he’s excited about the new administration and is ready to go with some different ideas for the University. One thing he’d like to focus on is parking, he said.
"Parking is a huge issue. A lot of us students don’t know where we can and can’t park," he said.
Chin said it was important to come up with a financial aid follow-up system and keep an eye on tuition and admissions. He said it was also important to get more people involved with the SGA.
In the SGA Senate At-Large races, incumbent Brandon Brewton won At-Large Seat 1 with 1,133 votes, 43.6 percent of 2,601 total cast in that race and Aleah Al-Sad was unopposed for At-Large Seat 2, receiving 2,383 votes. Jeremy Edwards won At-Large Seat 3 with 1,272 votes, 51.3 percent of 2,479 total, and Tommy Kirby won At-Large Seat 4 with 1,597 votes, 64.9 percent of 2,462 total.
In the Bauer College of Business, Salman Amanullah won Seat 1 with 137 votes, 44.3 percent of 309 total; Stephen Quezada won Seat 2 with 218 votes, 76.5 percent of 285 total; Jeffrey Li won Seat 3 uncontested with 287 votes; Jonathan Garza won Seat 4 with 172 votes, 58.1 percent of 296 total, and Zakaria won Seat 5 with 150 votes, 50.2 percent of 299 total.
In the Cullen College of Engineering, Frank Thomas won Seat 1 with 116 votes, 44.4 percent of 261 total, and Lyle Hood won Seat 2 with 83 votes, 32.2 percent of 258 total.
In the Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management, Franceska McCaughan won with 59 votes, 56.7 percent of 104 total.
In the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, Alexander Obregon won Seat 1 with 290 votes, 50.8 percent of 571 total, Rachel Coolidge won Seat 2 with 267 votes, 47.5 percent of 562 total, Kelly Evans won Seat 3 with 228 votes, 38.6 percent of 590 total, Bethany Johns won Seat 4 with 290 votes, 50.9 percent of 570 total, Sean Tarver won Seat 5 with 318 votes, 55.4 percent of 574 total, Mallory McKenney won Seat 6 uncontested with 615 votes, and Stephen Klesel won Seat 7 with 289 votes, 53 percent of 545 total.
In the Honors College, Zuhair Siddiqui won with 253 votes, 70.9 percent of 357 total cast.