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Monday, March 18, 2024
The Observer

Vidal-Devine ticket wins in run-off election

Juniors Lauren Vidal and Matthew Devine won the student body presidential run-off election by 276 votes over junior Olivia LaMagna and sophomore Rohan Andresen, the Judicial Council announced Tuesday morning.

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Vidal and Devine secured 1,935 votes and 53.84 percent of the total, while LaMagna and Andresen earned 1,659 votes and 46.16 percent. A total of 268 voters abstained, but abstentions do not contribute towards voting percentages in a run-off election, according to the Council.

Vidal, who will serve as student body president, told The Observer she was "humbled" by the election result and she and Devine plan to "[hit] the ground running."

"We would like to extend the open-door policy of the current administration to ensure that all students feel welcomed and informed," Vidal said. "We will represent student interests to the best of our ability, and will do so by maintaining open and honest lines of communication."

She said they plan to “begin on day one” to work on the initiatives on their platform.

Devine, the vice president-elect, thanked his and Vidal’s supporters as well as LaMagna and Andresen “for a very competitive race” in a statement issued on Facebook. He said he was grateful to everyone who voted in the election.

“Lauren and I will work tirelessly to ensure that we represent our peers with all that we have, and we look forward to a great year here with all of you,” he said.

Andresen said he and LaMagna were thankful for their supporters despite their loss and proud of their “amazing campaign that was both strong and fun.”

“Olivia and I are glad that throughout the campaign — even when things got heated — we stuck to our guns and ideals and never compromised our morals,” he said. “It was outstanding meeting so many great members of the Notre Dame community and Olivia and I still look forward to working with them to find ways to bring beneficial change to our school and leave Notre Dame in an even better place than it was when we first arrived.”

LaMagna said she and Andresen still hope to engage in dialogue within the Notre Dame community.

“We intend to continue to work as advocates on behalf of students here,” LaMagna said. “We’ve learned so much through this process. … We’re not going to be able to help out as elected officials, but we will never stop having those discussions and providing support in any way we can as humans who care deeply about our classmates.”

The Council said 46 percent of eligible undergraduates voted, a one percent increase from the initial election on Feb. 5. They announced the results Tuesday morning, instead of Monday night, because of pending allegations of election misconduct. The Constitution of the Undergraduate Student Body of the University of Notre Dame du Lac states the election results cannot be released while any allegations and appeals are pending