Twelve new GUSA Senators were elected to fill the seven freshmen, one senior, and four at-large seats, the GUSA Election Commission announced via their Twitter in the early morning of Sept. 26.
The seven senators elected to represent the Class of 2023 are Leo Rassieur (COL ’23), Eric Bazail Eimil (SFS ’23), Zumanah Mahmud (MSB ’23), Eric Lipka (COL ’23), Zach Volpe (SFS ’23), Zahra Wakilzada (COL ’23), and Eddie Galvan (MSB ’23). Wakilzada, along with six others, petitioned to be on the ballot after the initial slate included only two female candidates. This petition required collecting 100 signatures. In total, 22 candidates ran for the seven slots. 40.5 percent of the freshman class voted.
The four new at-large senators, elected by sophomores, juniors, and seniors from the slate of five candidates, are Alexandra Mucher (COL ’22), Henry Dai (SFS ’22), Chris Ziac (COL ’22), and Charlie Wang (SFS ’22).
Juliana Arias (SFS ’20) was elected to fill the seat vacated earlier this year by Matt Buckwald (COL ’20). Arias ran unopposed.
According to the Election Commission, voter turnout was 19.2 percent. The fall elections last year saw a voter turnout of 20.9 percent, which rose in the spring to 57.9 percent, due largely to the 272 referendum on the ballot.
The new senators will be sworn in at the next GUSA meeting on Sept. 29, which will mark the end of the transition period.
