TEC endorses Executive Ticket 1 in ECU’s SGA election

After neither of the three executive Student Government Association tickets hit 50% of votes in the presidential election on Feb. 24, Ticket One and Ticket Two will take part in a runoff election, and The East Carolinian is endorsing Ticket One.

A total of 4,260 East Carolina University students participated during the voting period, with the voting divided among the three tickets 38.21%, 45.61%, and 16.17%, respectively.

Ticket One received 38.21% of the votes, totaling to 1,628 votes. The candidates on Ticket One are presidential candidate junior political science major Javier Limon and vice president candidate senior public health major Matthew Blount.

Ticket Two received 45.61% of the votes, which totaled to 1,943. Presidential candidate sophomore construction management major Max Wimberley and vice president candidate sophomore public health major Katie Frizzle lead the voting numbers.

Ticket Three had 16.17% of the votes or 698 in total. Presidential candidate neuroscience, psychology and African American Studies triple major George Cherry Jr. and vice president candidate junior public health pre-medical major Anyanso Kalu were eliminated from the runoff election due to lack of votes.

We, the editorial staff at The East Carolinian, are in support of Ticket one following the SGA runoff voting period.

During the SGA debate on Feb. 16, Limon discussed various aspects of Ticket One’s platform, including the expansion of the University Good Samaritan Regulation, as well as the change of dining hall options for those with specific religious customs. Limon’s said his platform also hopes to aid in the equipment of residence halls and off-campus housing with free drink-spike testing kits and focus on student well-being.

“We also want to make sure that professors are extending the add drop period and putting grades in by the time the withdrawal date comes around,” Limon said during the presidential debate. “That way students can make the best decision when it comes to their academics. Our platform recognizes the rising costs students face too. We want to utilize the SGA budget by partnering with ECU’s Treasure Chest to provide emergency relief funds for students.”

As part of this focus on mental health, Limon said Ticket One plans to provide three mental health days for students each semester. He said the two candidates will also promote a social scholarship that would pay for various student organization fees for students receiving financial aid.

Limon’s running mate, Blount, said they plan to have open and active communication with not only student organizations, but the entire student body.

“We want to be active and present,” Blount said. “We want to show that we actually care about ECU by going to organizations and talking to students, our job is to serve and uplift their voices. We also don’t want Greek and non-Greek students to feel separate anymore. I want to talk about issues with everyone together.”

The polls reopened at 8 a.m. on March 1, and they will remain open until 5 p.m. on March 3. Students may vote by logging into their Engage accounts.