Ralph Davies '05 will not appeal the results of this week's election for Student Body President, despite losing to President-elect Julia Hildreth '05 by a single vote in a controversial and hard-fought election, Davies told The Dartmouth yesterday.
"Now is a time to unify around Julia Hildreth and figure out how we can best serve the student body next year," Davies said. "I think Julia will be a strong student body president."
Election Planning and Advisory Committee officials expressed support for Davies' concession.
"I think Ralph is trying to act in the best interest of the Student Assembly and student government," said EPAC Co-Chair Stephanie Long '04. "I respect his decision."
Hildreth similarly praised Davies'
If Davies had chosen to challenge the results, Long said, it would not be immediately clear how EPAC would have proceeded. This year's race is only the fourth student-run election in Dartmouth history and competition this year was far more heated than those in recent years.
"If Julia and Ralph both decided they wanted to have a run-off, we could have done it," Long said. "However, we don't have well-defined guidelines otherwise."
Long acknowledged that this election will doubtless leave many unsatisfied, but added that the controversy associated with it would ultimately spur a much-needed revision of election rules.
"I think in the long term this will help strengthen the elections process," Long said. "A lot of things happened this year that haven't happened in the past and couldn't have been anticipated."
Davies expressed a similar confidence in future improvement of campaigning rules.
"I think that no matter who you supported, this election revealed that there are a lot of clarifications that need to be made. But I think those changes will definitely be addressed and Dartmouth will be stronger for it," Davies said.
Candidates and election officials both praised this election's voter turnout -- the highest in 14 years and probably in Dartmouth history.
"The great turnout demonstrates that people are ready and there's a real mandate for stronger student government at Dartmouth," Davies said.
Several rumors of improper voting circulated around campus in the days following the final tallying, but EPAC officials said that results were unquestionably accurate.
EPAC members said the committee electronically verified the election results before releasing them to the Dartmouth community because of the closeness of the presidential vote.
"We're 100 percent confident in the results and we're positive that the website was secure," Long said.
