“I’m not sure if this is the first time in Skyline’s history or not, but we would like to announce that there will be a runoff in the presidential election between Taylor Angel and Melchie Cabrigas.”

The announcement from ASSC Election Board Co-chair Bivett Thompson came amidst the joyful atmosphere of Skyline’s Cinco de Mayo celebration in the cafeteria May 5. But, there was no real celebration for the next student council president due to the election board’s decision to hold a runoff election between two of this year’s three presidential candidates.

On May 4, the last day for Skyline students to vote for next year’s ASSC officers, members of the election board stayed on campus until the early morning hours of May 5 counting ballots. After the final count, the board came to the conclusion that the difference in the number of votes between presidential candidates Melchie Cabrigas and Taylor Angel was too close to decide who will be president.

“The race was very close and no one received a 50 percent vote,” said Amory Cariadus, adviser to the ASSC.

According to the ASSC’s constitution, the office of president is won with 50 percent of the votes, plus one. This year there were an estimated 350 voters, a 50-voter increase over last year’s estimated turnout.

Unable to fully comment on the elections due to approval reasons from the election board, Thompson did not give the exact number of students who voted this year or the number of votes received by each candidate.

“I can say that during last year’s election, the polls were open five consecutive days and they received less votes than we did this year in just two days at the polls,” Thompson said. “I think it’s safe to say that we met and, in some ways, exceeded our expectations.”

However, the election board faces one more round of vote-counting in order for a president to be chosen. As of press time, no official dates had been set for the runoff election.

“We will be announcing the special elections as soon as we find a date for that,” Thompson said.

During the Cinco de Mayo celebration, Cariadus said there should be a president by the end of the semester.

However, days after the celebration, Thompson said, “We can’t have a runoff unless we give two weeks notice to the students.”

She said the runoff election may be postponed until the fall semester because of the closeness to the busy last days of class and finals week.

“It wouldn’t be fair to the students because they may not be able to vote,” Thompson said.

“The chair of the election board can’t miss her finals, and we can’t have elections because of scheduling reasons,” said Cabrigas. “This was also a low-cost election because last year we had more (incentives) to offer the students who were voting. There are too many speculations on how the election is going.”

“I would like the election to happen before the spring semester ends,” Angel said.

“I am glad to still be in the election process and I think that ultimately whoever is meant to be president will be president.”

At first, just after the announcement on May 5, Cabrigas said she also wanted the election to be held this semester.

“In all honesty I would rather have the election now so we can do some team-building in the summer, and I want people to know what the people are up against,” she said.

Later, however Cabrigas, the current head of the Skyline Organizations and Club Council (SOCC) said she had changed her mind.

“Regardless if there is a president, team-building will happen,” she said. “The candidate will show leadership and do what they say. I’m a doer not a sayer. Everything I did in SOCC is accounted for and nobody can say I didn’t do anything this year; let the records show.

“I don’t want the elections to happen now because there is a lack of accountability.”

In the meantime, the election board is offering an opportunity to the students to come up with ways to handle the upcoming runoff.

“Any suggestions you guys have about debates, feel free to share that information with the student activities office, and we will pass that information down to the election board,” Thompson said.

Elections for ASSC positions other than president were not contested, and those who ran will fill the positions they were seeking, as announced May 5.

“When you are not contested, you need 10 percent of the votes,” Cariadus explained. “If you do not get that 10 percent, you do not get the position, and all of those candidates received the 10 percent vote.”

However, Angel and Cabrigas must wait until after the runoff to see which of them will fill the presidential seat of the Associated Students of Skyline College.

“The only thing that I would like to add involves the desire I have to really have a strong and well-heard voice for the students,” Angel said.

Cabrigas said, “I care for the students and I am not afraid to take the job as president. I want to be committed to them.”