The Student Assembly elections may have gotten off to a rocky start with the delayed release of the candidates' list, but presidential candidate Jorge Miranda '01 seems to be running along smoothly.
According to a poll conducted by The Dartmouth, Miranda is leading the pack with a substantial margin over his closest competitor Alex Wilson '01. However, the vice-presidential race is far from over with Chance Hill '01 and Molly Stutzman '02 in a statistical deadheat.
Miranda earned 44.4 percent of the vote of those who responded with a choice for president, with Wilson and Jack-O-Lantern candidate Brett Quimby '02 lagging behind with 18.6 and 14.1 percent respectively. Meg Smoot '01 earned 10.9 of the vote, Alex Grishman '01 10.3, while 1.7 percent of those who answered the question plan to vote for a candidate outside the ballot.
The vice-presidency is up for grabs with Hill securing 39.5 percent of the vote of those people who specified a candidate, followed very closely by Stutzman with 35.9 percent -- making it difficult to predict a winner at this stage. Jacob Osterhout '02 also secured a substantial margin of 22.1 percent.
The Dartmouth poll was sent via BlitzMail to 4,048 students 1,015 of whom responded -- giving a response rate of 25.1 percent.
Of the 1,015 total respondents to the Dartmouth poll, 296 did not specify their vice-presidential choice. With many potential voters undecided, the next couple of days of campaigning are likely to be crucial in deciding the results.
Before the announcement of the poll results, Stutzman said she feels there are many people who are still undecided right now, adding the next couple of days will be important for getting in touch with people, mobilizing them and letting them know that voting starts this week.
"I think there is huge concern that a lot of people don't know that voting is this week," she said.
Also unaware of the poll results, Hill voiced similar comments.
He said his next couple of days will be busy "talking to and blitzing" people. "Some people have made up their mind, but there are plenty who have not."
Hill also commented on the confusion the title listed in some of his campaign literature caused.
As part of his campaign efforts, Hill also sent out a flyer to student Hinman Boxes asking them to vote for him as "Student Body Vice President," a position which does not currently exist. Hill, however, clarified that the wording of his flyer had "nothing to do" with the recent Assembly contoversy to change the name of Student Assembly president and vice president to Student Body president and vice president respectively.
"Ultimately it doesn't really matter," Hill said, voicing his opinions about what the position should be called. "I just want to get into that position."
According to the Dartmouth poll, although most respondents -- 95.4 percent -- said they were aware of the presidential and vice-presidential elections, almost half of students responding -- 46.4 percent -- said they do not care about upcoming elections.
Last year's elections, held two months after the controversial Initiative announcement was made in February, saw a record voter turnout -- with 2,198 ballots being cast.
In contrast to last year, campaigning this election season got off to a slow start and has not reached the same intensity or level of interest -- the speech night in Collis last Friday drew only about 60 students.
