By
Emily Severson
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Fewer than 200 votes tabulated in online re-election
ASUA Senator Tricia Williams won Friday's special election for Administrative Vice President with 80 percent of 171 votes cast.
Williams received 138 votes and opponent Brandon D'Angelo received 33.
The announcement was made at 9 p.m. in front of the U of A Bookstore. Williams was the only person waiting to hear the results.
D'Angelo was not in attendance, he said, because he had a prior commitment to supervise Spring Fling's security team.
Williams asked elections commissioner Joe Rogers to wait before announcing her victory so she could call her mother, who Williams said helped with her campaign. Williams then held her cell phone toward Rogers so her mother could hear the results.
Williams said she would have liked a better voter turnout. She said she struggled with having one week to campaign for the second election, which ran from 8 a.m. Thursday to 8 p.m. Friday.
Students voted online at the ASUA Web site.
D'Angelo said he did not have time to campaign because he was too busy working on Spring Fling.
"I have been at Spring Fling non-stop since Wednesday," D'Angelo said. "I put my commitments to others before my own self interest."
Rogers said he thought ASUA followed a fair process, but it was unfortunate the voter turnout was low.
D'Angelo said he was not expecting the voter turnout to be any higher than 200.
"I think the Supreme Court was the best part of the process, and it was a good process," D'Angelo said. "I am not sure if I would call it fair though."
D'Angelo, an undeclared sophomore, was disqualified from the original race just after midnight March 8 - the final day of the general elections - when Rogers decided D'Angelo violated sanctions placed on him earlier in the day after sending a mass e-mail to 4,200 students.
The ASUA Supreme Court, however, decided Rogers overreached his boundaries in disqualifying D'Angelo during the general election and ordered ASUA to hold a special run-off election between D'Angelo and Williams.
"The hardest part was re-doing all the posters and banners," Williams said. "We got everything done last Friday but the week was hectic anyway because of the game, and I had a lot of schoolwork."
Graff said ASUA established the abbreviated timeline because of a desire for quick results, taking precedent from the last special election, which was held in spring 1996.
"I feel badly that the election had to drag on so long because it hurts ASUA and the student body," Graff said.
Williams said the special election, as opposed to granting her the position by default, was probably the best way things could be done in the situation.
"The administrative vice president needs to be elected," Williams said.
She added, though, that the special election has put her behind schedule on pushing through some ASUA bylaw changes and setting salary stipends.
"Tricia has what it takes to get the ball rolling and get the position of administrative vice president back on track," Graff said.
