After Residence Hall Association elections April 9, the RHA Web site announced the election of new President Chris Broussard and Vice President Lauren Fontenot.
Tuesday, the Web site announced a different set of winners.
The RHA Elections Commission recounted votes Monday night and determined losing candidates Nathan Boudreaux and Doug Fields originally won the election.
Elections Commissioner Adam French said the commission met to discuss an appeal that Fields and Boudreaux wrote contesting the first election results.
The appeal focused on the Election Code’s definition of a tie.
The commission determined, “The best way to react to this appeal was to recount the election results fully,” according to the commission’s decision statement.
French said during the recount, members discovered a page of the voter roster previously unaccounted for.
“Now we are dealing with the whole of the data, and the decision is more accurate,” French said.
In the original election, Broussard and Fontenot received 303 votes and Boudreaux and Fields received 312, although only 609 residents voted in the election.
The results produced a 10-vote margin of error.
Current RHA President Michael Krom told The Reveille in a previous article that if the number of votes in error is larger than the difference between total votes, a tie occurs.
Boudreaux and Fields’ appeal focused on whether the election results were considered a tie according to the Election Code.
According to the RHA Elections Code, the Presidential Assembly breaks the tie. The assembly voted 8-0 April 9 to elect Broussard and Fontenot.
French said when the missing page was counted, members determined the margin of error was less than the margin of victory.
“The Boudreaux/Fields ticket received a simple majority of ballots and is therefore the winner,” the decision statement said.
Fields said he and Boudreaux are satisfied with the decision.
“We feel confident that more people wanted us to win,” Fields said.
Boudreaux said he understands accidents happen and is glad the commission found the discrepancy.
Fontenot said the commission’s decision was upsetting.
“We thought we were the winners for a week and a half but found out in the middle of the night [Monday] that the decision was changed,” Fontenot said.
Rumors exist that an appeal will be presented to contest the new decision, French said. An appeal must be turned in within two days following the decision.
French said he plans to give a presentation on how the commission resolved the problem at the Presidential Assembly meeting Wednesday.
The meeting is scheduled for 8 p.m. Wednesday in the Castillian Room of the Union. All students are welcomed to attend.