AU College Democrats said that there was a ballot counting error a day after announcing Tripp Frank as AU Dems’ new executive director.
Frank won the position of executive director on March 25, according to an AU Dems March 26 press release. However, when club president Kathryn Tinker recounted the ballots, she determined that the final election results were 40 votes for Frank and 40 votes for Olivia Hoppe, Tinker said.
Originally, AU Dems announced that Frank won by one vote, according to Tinker. The AU Dems constitution does allow ballot recounts, but one was not requested during this election.
“I didn’t know what the ethical solution was [for the tie],” Tinker said.
It was decided that both candidates would be informed of the ballot error, according to Tinker. Frank offered Hoppe a tiebreaker but she declined, according to a press release by AU Dems.
“While I could have contested the election results, I feel that it is in the best interest of the club to have certainty in the results and move forward, unified under the new E-Board,” Hoppe said in the press release.
tdalcourt@theeagleonline.com
