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Due to concern for the student body, the Student Government of Carthage would like to notify all students of the following events:

In the academic year of 2017-18, Student Government held elections for the 2018-19 executive board. The election began at 8:13 a.m. on March 1. That night, at 7:24 p.m., one of the candidates for president received an email stating that they were ineligible to run. The student body was not notified of that status and was allowed to vote with the original ballot throughout the entire election.

Due to a growing concern during a Student Government meeting in March, a motion was passed to publish the results of the 2018 election of the executive board to Student Government. This notified Student Government that the ineligible candidate had received the majority of the student body votes for president. The Student Senate passed a motion for the executive board to release a statement notifying the student body of this discrepancy. However, this motion was never fulfilled by the 2017-18 executive board.

The Election Committee then met separately from Student Government and decided that all the votes for the ineligible candidate should be ruled as “abstain” ballots. The Student Senate disagreed with that ruling due to the belief it disregarded the majority of the students’ votes. The Student Senate then passed the following motion at the last meeting of May: “To annul the 2018 presidential election and to hold a presidential re-election for the 2018-19 school year before the second Student Government meeting of the 2018-19 school year with the options of ‘No Confidence, Abstain, and Renee’ Jalbert,’ making each choice clear.” Thus following this motion, Student Government designated Renee’ Jalbert as interim president until the results of the new election were received.

At the first Student Government meeting of the 2018-19 year on Tuesday, Sept. 11, a motion was passed to release this statement drafted by one sophomore, one junior, and one senior senator. A motion was also passed to instate the Vice President as the Election Chair to carry out the previous motion and ensure transparency. The manner of this election was set to be by secret ballot within the current Student Senate. This election was set to occur on Tuesday, Sept. 18.

On Tuesday, Sept. 18, the Student Government Senate held an election before our 9:15 p.m. student government weekly meeting. The election was held by secret ballot, with the options: “Renee Jalbert, Abstain, or No Confidence.” The results were as follows: Renee Jalbert was elected student body president with a simple majority. 

On behalf of the 2018-19 Student Government, we apologize for the past mistakes of our body. To ensure that these actions do not repeat, we will continue to work towards transparency and good faith towards the student body we serve.