As the result of an appeal made by one of the presidential candidates on Friday afternoon, the runoff for student body president and vice-president, which had been scheduled for Monday, was postponed.
Jermaine Baxter, a presidential candidate who garnered enough votes from the original election to be entered in the runoff, filed the appeal. Baxter, who is a graduate student, wanted the university to recognize his undergraduate GPA of 2.8, which is higher than his graduate GPA, which is not high enough for him to run for student body president.
The election commission, a body of SGA senators who are charged with overseeing the contests for student body president and vice-president and any runoffs that are necessary to choose winners, heard Baxter’s appeal and approved it on Tuesday afternoon.
Brandon Batten, chair of the election commission, explained the appeal as somewhat of a misunderstanding.
“It’s just a big miscommunication,” said Batten. “His GPA is fine.”
Since the appeal had to be heard by the election commission, it was forced to postpone the runoffs, which have been rescheduled for Tuesday, April 17, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Candidates for student body president are Baxter and Jesse Lyons, and candidates for vice-president are Chris Hall and Jermaine Perry.