According to unofficial election results, students voted in favor of making the $85 student activity fee mandatory by a margin of 1,202 to 177 this week.
To pass, at least 20 percent of over 5,500 Geneseo students had to vote in the referendum, and two-thirds of those students had to vote that the fee remain mandatory. The fee supports Student Association, Activities Commission, The Lamron, GSTV, academic and cultural clubs and a number of other organizations and events.
In the SA executive board elections, candidates of the Imagine party received more votes than their counterparts in the competing Vision party, but results are unofficial pending a decision by Geneseo's student court. An appeal has been made to the court regarding a previous decision of the Undergraduate Student Association Elections Committee to take no action when SA's election publicity policy was allegedly violated. An informational hearing will take place on Tuesday and will be open to the public.
The Imagine party was comprised of junior Haleema Murtaza for president, sophomore Nicholas Kaasik for vice president, freshman Hamza Murtaza for Student Affairs representative, junior Brian Hartle for Academic Affairs representative and sophomore Mathe Kamsutchom for the public relations director.
The positions of director of Student Programming, director of Inter-Residence Council and director of Business Affairs were uncontested. Junior Corinthia Kotlar, junior Melissa Kaye and sophomore Mark Petrie ran for these positions, respectively, with the Vision party.
According to the guidelines of the USAEC, "Initial election results will be made available to candidates as soon as they are ready and do not become official until 24 hours after candidates are informed. If an appeal is filed by a candidate to the USAEC or Student Court, the results of the affected position will not be considered official until either a final ruling has been issued, or the appeal is dropped."
Kaasik said it was "good that it was a contested election" because electing students to the position "adds another level of accountability." Last year, the executive board positions were uncontested.
Students will be notified when results become official.