While some Resident Student Association (RSA) members showed “no confidence” in either of the candidates running for president March 17, other student leaders show no confidence in the current president.

After three rounds of voting with no clear winner, RSA President Scott Minkin eliminated the option of abstaining from the ballot, something other student leaders said shouldn’t be an option.

“As a co-chair of the Student Affairs Board, it concerns me to hear that a student group manipulated its election process to ensure that a current candidate would win,” said Michael Benson, Student Government Association (SGA) vice president for financial affairs. “I know in Student Government we’ve had instances where no candidate received the majority of votes, and the position went unfilled until a special election could be held. Neither of the two candidates that originally ran were allowed to run in special elections.”

Removing the option to abstain from the ballot left three options for general council members: junior Jason Russak, sophomore Margaret Horton or “no confidence.”

However, despite the disapproval from other student groups, striking the option to abstain from an election doesn’t go against standard organization procedure.

“If no one challenged (taking ‘abstain’ off the ballot), then it was possible for him to do that,” said Prof. Gerald Herman, SGA advisor. “As a matter of practice, it happens in many organizations, it gets everyone to just make a decision.”

Members of RSA stood by their president’s decision to strike abstain from the ballot.

“I think (Minkin) made the right decision,” Russak said. “It made (the general assembly) think about who they wanted for president.”

The voting process, as stated in RSA’s constitution, is “very loosely” defined, Russak said. He said future legislation may make voting rights more clearly defined in the group’s constitution.

After removing the option to abstain from the ballot, there was still no clear winner.

With the least amount of votes between himself, Horton and “no confidence,” Russak

was eliminated from the race.

Given the choice between Horton and “no confidence,” the general council elected Horton as their next president.

“The general council has elected a great e-board so far,” Horton said. “They’ve shown lots of dedication for the organization, and I think that I’m qualified to help the way through the next year.”

Minkin said he would not provide the number of votes made for “no confidence” versus those made for Horton in the final vote, which Benson finds unacceptable.

“It’s really concerning that a group that serves over half of the student body wouldn’t release its vote counts,” he said.

RSA, however, has never released its vote count in the past for any reason, the group’s advisor said.

“It’s been organizational practice,” said Andrew Ryder, advisor for RSA. “It goes back to how the elections are run, to help maintain the dignity of all the candidates in the elections. It hasn’t proven to be problematic in the past, and the outcome in this particular case didn’t seem to be questionable.”

Although the general council did finally come to a decision on a president, uncertainty in both candidates was apparent when members voted “no confidence.”

Russak said “no confidence” votes may have stemmed back to his resignation in December from the position of vice president for finance.

“A lot of (the questions members had) went to my resignation, that was definitely in my mind,” Russak said.

Minkin said he had faith in both candidates, but stands by the decision the general council made.

“I think most importantly the general council didn’t think (Russak) was qualified,” Minkin said. “I have confidence in what the general council believed.”

Russak cited lack of time in his schedule as a reason for leaving his position, but that the position of president would have been something he would have made sure he had time for.

He said he never had an interest in the vice president position, but if he had stayed regardless, “it would have had a big impact on elections.”

Horton, having less experience and only one year on the e-board, may have made general council members uneasy with her inexperience, Russak said. Horton, however, said she believes she is qualified for the job.

“I’ve been working to become one of the more active members (on the e-board),” Horton said. “I do feel that I’m qualified for this position.”

Russak also said he has faith in Horton’s future as RSA president, despite his losing campaign.

“I have 150 percent confidence in Margaret,” Russak said. “We both have the same passion for the organization.”