Ani Ajith and Alex Van Atta beat out three other pairs this evening to win the Associated Student Government election for president and executive vice president.
After the online ballot closed at 5 p.m., Ajith, a Weinberg junior and former Daily staffer, and Van Atta, a McCormick junior, held a campaign gathering at the Black House. Minutes later, Ajith and Van Atta learned that they won the election.
“I’m incredibly humbled and thankful to the campaign team and all our supporters,” Ajith said.
ASG election commissioner Jason Richardson said Ajith and Van Atta were the clear victors using a preferential voting model, winning in face-to-face comparisons against the three other tickets.
“If the candidates are paired off, Ani and Alex won against each of them, as well as winning a majority of the first place votes,” the Weinberg senior said.
Under the new voting system, students were asked to rank the four tickets rather than choosing just one.
Paired against SESP junior Benison Choi and Weinberg junior Danny Kim, Ajith and Van Atta were ranked higher more than 70 percent of the time. Against Weinberg juniors Aaron Zelikovich and Henry Brooke, they received better rankings more than 67 percent of the time.
The most competitive faceoff was against SESP juniors David Harris and Jo Lee. Ajith and Van Atta were ranked more favorably than Harris and Lee more than 53 percent of the time.
Harris said despite the narrow defeat, he would not have changed anything about his and Lee’s campaign.
“We’re really proud of what we built,” Harris said. “We’re sad it didn’t work out the way we wanted it, but I know that Ani and Alex will do a phenomenal job and are amazing leaders for Northwestern and for ASG.”
Communication junior Anna Kottenstette, a Daily staffer, was elected to the position of student life vice president, and Weinberg junior Sofia Sami won an uncontested race for academic vice president.
Joseph Diebold and Cat Zakrzewski contributed reporting.
— Manuel Rapada
