By: Hayden Kobza – Editor-in-Chief & Kyla Wetmore
On Feb.19, at 11 p.m., Naomi Ann Martinez, junior theology major, won the Student Association (SA) presidential election. Unopposed, she received 421 yes votes and 315 no votes. Joining her is newly elected Executive Vice President Alejandro Robles, a sophomore biology major with a biomedical emphasis. Also unopposed, Robles received 858 yes votes and 78 no votes.
Incumbent Jordan Collazo, freshman social work major, and Ruthie Roque, senior business administration major, competed for the role of SA social vice president. However, the election was too close to call due to a glitch in the voting system.
“The system was not allowing those who had arranged classes, online studies or directed studies [to receive their ballot],” Dennis Negrón, vice president of Student Development said.
The members of the SA Bylaws Committee, remaining anonymous, voted two-to-one for a student body revote of the social vice president race, according to Parliamentarian Vincent Havin Yang.
Negrón said the committee opted to revote because some students claimed that they had not received their ballots.
Voter Turnout
There were 737 voters this year, compared to 1,255 voters in the 2024-2025 academic year election, according to election data provided by Negrón. Student Development and SA had incorrectly included any student with a minimum of six credit hours in previous elections, which contributed to the decrease in registered votes this school year.
SA’s governing documents state that a student must be enrolled in 12 or more credits to be eligible to vote. Because of the credit discrepancy, eligible voters dropped from 2,346 last academic year to approximately 1,700 this year, according to election data.
Even after accounting for changes in eligibility this election season, voter turnout was 10% lower than last year. Only 43% of students who received a ballot voted this year, compared with 53% in the previous election.
Reactions
While the election results are unclear for the social vice president race, Martinez and Robles are celebrating.
Martinez is looking forward to serving the student population.
“I’m so grateful to God,” she said. “My heart is so grateful.”
Robles said that he is excited to connect with students and help address their problems and concerns.
“I am feeling absolutely incredible. I’m so happy to be able to serve my student body for next year. It is an absolute honor and absolute privilege, and I cannot wait to stand before them for the entire next school year.”
