Election comes down to one vote

If you don't think your vote counts, think again. One vote decided the president of the Student Government Association when the ballots were counted Friday.

The SGA election was held last Wednesday and Thursday in the Student Lounge.

To be eligible to vote, students had to present a valid Richland ID.

For most of the voting period, the booth sat empty with no voters approaching the table. Catching someone marking a ballot was a rare sight.

 Electrical Engineering Student Ube Ukpong was one of the few who took the time to vote.

"I'm supporting my friend. I would like to see him do things to improve the campus," he said. "I really want to help him out."

Out of the approximate 20,000 students registered, 139 voted.

With such a small percentage of the campus voting, reasons why students aren't casting a vote are important to note.

"They don't know, they don't care, they think everyone else will vote. They're leaving the job for everyone else," Ukpong said. "To change something you have to do something yourself."

Only one vote seperated presidential candidates Tabeth Nkangoh and Greg Carboni.

The results were posted outside of the Office of Student Life early Friday afternoon, showing that Nkangoh beat Carboni 70 votes to 69.

"It feels good to win," Nkangoh said. "Every vote counts and the next step is to thank all of our voters with an ice cream party."

President: Tabeth Nkangoh

Mission statement: "I believe that it is important to continue the goal of diversifying leadership at Richland. Strengthening our campus in terms of clubs and organizations is one of the many priorities. It is time to amplify Richland and unite the college as a whole by minimizing the gap between students and the Student Government Association (SGA); between students and the faculty. Removing apathy from our environment is key to student success and participation at Richland. The current recession and economic crisis has resulted constraints that threaten to not only increase fees, but also to reduce the number of services and classes available. In order to succeed we must make the most of our current resources- meaning we must promote more student activity in terms of fundraising for clubs, beautifying our campus and helping accommodate the needs of all students."