After nearly two weeks of anticipation, Duke Student Government’s election day has finally arrived. This year’s ballot features 10 rising juniors and seniors vying for positions as DSG officials for 2005-2006. Three candidates seek the DSG presidency; candidates in three of the six executive offices are running unopposed.

Voters will also weigh in on a referendum to amend section of the DSG Constitution dealing with Academic Rights and Responsibilities.

DSG election bylaws stipulate that a candidate must obtain a 6 percent plurality over his next closest opponent in order to be declared a winner. If that does not occur, the DSG Election Commission will administer a run-off election between the top two vote-getting candidates no later than Thursday of next week, said senior Elizabeth Ladner, DSG attorney general and chair of the Election Commission.

Students will receive e-mail notification of the DSG polling website, which requires NetID identification. Students can vote between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m., and DSG representatives will man polling stations at the Marketplace, Bryan Center and Great Hall.

Juniors Emily Aviki, Russ Ferguson and Jesse Longoria are competing for the office of DSG president. The president acts as undergraduates’ liaison to the Duke administration and other members of the University and local communities.

Aviki, who currently serves as president of the Class of 2006 and DSG assistant vice president of athletics and campus services, lists on-campus social outlets and restoration of traditions as two of her main platform points.

Ferguson, current DSG president pro-tempore and president of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, aims to make life “easier” for students by providing more wireless Internet access and opening venues such as Student Health and the library 24 hours a day.

Longoria—current DSG vice president of athletics and campus services and last year’s president of the Class of 2006—lists improving the dining options on East Campus and relations between students and campus police atop his agenda.

Junior Brenda Bautsch and sophomore Ryan Strasser will duke it out for the office of vice president of athletics and campus services, a race that originally included four candidates. Sophomore Daron Gunn and junior Hirsh Sandesara both dropped from the race after initially declaring their candidacies.

Junior Christopher Chin and sophomore Joe Fore are competing for the position of vice president of academic affairs.

Juniors Brandon Goodwin, Logan Leinster and Paige Sparkman are running uncontested for the offices of executive vice president, vice president of community interaction and vice president of student affairs, respectively.

Although the election bylaws allow for a numbering system in which voters list their first, second and third choice candidates so that there could be an instant run-off in the case of an election with three or more candidates, Ladner said the Election Commission “did not find a computer program that was feasible [for this voting system] and decided to go with the more traditional run-off system.”

DSG elections require no quorum—minimum voter participation—to be met, unless there is a student activities fee referendum. There will be no such referendum on today’s ballot because DSG tabled indefinitely a measure that would increase funds for Last Day of Classes festivities. Members of Campus Council, which plans the event, are currently collecting signatures in order to place the referendum for a $7.50 per semester increase in the fee on the April 12 ballot.

Although last year’s election yielded just under 3,000 votes, Ladner expects voter turnout to be better today.

“This year’s presidential race is so close,” she said. “We hope that things like the debate have made people aware of the issues and made people want to vote.”

There was a glitch in last year’s election in which 14 members of the Class of 2003 who should have been ineligible to vote were able to cast ballots. The rogue ballots were later discounted, and election officials said the problem has since then been corrected.

The Election Commission conducted a test election recently in order to catch any new snags in the online voting process. Although problems can always arise, the Commission is “pretty confident that everything is fixed and will run smoothly,” Ladner said.