Stanley and Bandaru are the new SGA president-elect and vice president-elect. Photo by Lauren Gdowski.

ANNIE FAULKNER | NEWS CO-EDITOR | aefaulkn@butler.edu

With polls closing at 8:00 p.m. on March 28, the spring 2023 Student Government Association election has come to a close. Approximately 24 hours later, results were released to the public after an eight-hour delay due to a window in which candidates were able to contest reported election violations. Three tickets of presidential and vice-presidential candidates competed for the organization’s highest office, but in the end, rising seniors Katie Stanley and Suchi Bandaru came out on top. 

1,697 students cast votes in the election. After violation deductions, the Stanley-Bandaru ticket received 47.9% of the vote, defeating the Ford-Brent campaign, which received 37.4% of votes. The Smith-Chirco ticket received 14.7% of votes from Butler student voters. 

Before violation deductions, the results looked slightly different. By raw data, the Stanley-Bandaru ticket would have received 43.7% of the vote, the Ford-Brent ticket would have received 37.8% of votes and the Smith-Chirco ticket would have received 18.5%. However, the vote deductions did not ultimately impact election results. 

Graphic by Elizabeth Hein.

Vote deductions are calculated by deducting a given percentage from the total number of election votes. From the 1,697 vote total, Stanley-Bandaru had 3% of votes deducted, while Ford-Brent and Smith-Chirco were each deducted by 6%. Adjusted for the proportion of votes this represents for each individual campaign, Stanley-Bandaru lost 6.9% of their votes, Ford-Brent lost 15.9% and Smith-Chirco lost a hefty 32.5%. 

Graphic by Elizabeth Hein.

SGA policy does not allow for the public disclosure of election violations which result in deductions.

The Stanley-Bandaru campaign focused on three pillars: integrity, commitment and passion. Through the campaign process, the pair highlighted goals such as renovating the Health and Recreation Complex and creating a director of finance and facilities position within SGA. 

In an email to The Butler Collegian, Stanley issued a statement on her and Bandaru’s election victory: 

“Suchi and I are absolutely thrilled to have been elected as the student body president and vice president!” Stanley said. “It is an incredible honor to have been chosen by our peers to lead and represent our campus community. We are so excited to have the opportunity to make a positive impact on the Butler community and to work towards being the best advocates we can for students from all around campus. We wanted to give a heartfelt thank you to everyone who supported us and believed in our campaign platform. Suchi and I are looking forward to collaborating with fellow student leaders and to begin implementing meaningful changes that will benefit everyone. We encourage everyone to stay tuned for ways to get involved and play a part in implementing the student body’s mandate. Thank you for your support and we can’t wait to get started!”