Seven freshmen became part of the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate after an election yesterday that featured a 62-percent turnout.
Manny Adumbire, Katy Simon, Sam Wallis, Chas Morrison, Yin Lin, Lauren Levine and Laura Pacifici edged out the rest of the 27-candidate field to earn their seats on the body.
Because there were so many candidates, nobody was able to muster double-digit support, according to junior and Elections Commission (ECOM) Chair Adam Weldai. But although the results were tight, he said that the seven winners had "clear-cut" margins of victory.
The election went off largely without a hitch, although an e-mail sent to the student body saying that all undergraduates were eligible to vote did cause some confusion.
Only freshmen were able to participate in the election, and Weldai said that the e-mail was not supposed to reach the rest of the student body.
According to junior and ECOM Public Relations Officer Anjali Nirmalan, the 62-percent turnout is the highest in recent years for a fall election for freshman senators.
"The freshmen always turnout in higher numbers ... but 62 [percent] is unprecedented in recent years," she said, noting that the high level of participation can be attributed to hard work by ECOM and very enthusiastic candidates.
She said that candidates have had more freedom to express this enthusiasm in recent years after previous restrictions on online and poster advertising were lifted.
While this election resembled its predecessors in most respects, Nirmalan said there were a few changes. ECOM, for example, made more use of its Web site than it had in the past.
Prior to the election, students were able to see candidate biographies and a transcript from Monday night's candidates' forum in Sophia Gordon Hall, among other things, on the site.
Senate officials said they are happy with the results of the election and look forward to working with their new colleagues. "I'm excited to get to know them and work with them and see how they're going to change this school," TCU President Neil DiBiase said.
"[We were] really impressed by all of the candidates, but we're especially excited about the ones that were elected," TCU Historian Alex Pryor said.
-Sarah Butrymowicz contributed reporting to this article.
