Special election for UB Council student representative held after winner turns down the job

Five of the original seven candidates will run in the special election which ends Friday at noon GRANT

Next year’s UB Council student representative will be chosen in a ranked-choice special election after the winner of the original race declined the position.

Five of the seven original candidates — Yaide Valdez, Joey Sechrist, Alika Turton, Matthew Jackson and Brennan Gorman — are running in the special election. Instead of just being able to vote for one candidate, students will be able to rank their top three choices in this round of voting.

The yet-to-be-identified winner of last week’s race originally accepted the position but later declined it, triggering the special election, Assistant Director of Student Engagement Thomas Vane told The Spectrum in an email.

Vane did not say who the original winner was, but two candidates from the original election — Srikar Kolukuluri and Will Eaton — don’t appear on the special election ballot.

Students can vote in the special election on UBLinked until noon on Friday.

The UB Council is the “primary oversight and advisory body” to UB administrators and reviews “all major plans and activities of the university,” according to the council’s website. Nine of the council’s 10 members are appointed by the governor to seven-year terms. The remaining member, a student, is elected by the student body to a one-year term. All members are unpaid.

Email: grant.ashley@ubspectrum.com