After Christian Hill’s disqualification from the position of SGA President-elect, his former opponents, George Avery and Andrew Whyte have come out with their own statements regarding the incident.
In a statement released Wednesday afternoon, Avery said, “It’s very unfortunate [that Hill was disqualified], and I think Ashley [Epperson, Hill’s former running mate and current President-elect] is very capable, but if he was disqualified she should be too because they were both on the same ticket. If anything, the president should be the candidate who came in second place.”
Hill’s second opponent, Andrew Whyte did not want to comment on the controversy.
“I will withhold my comments until I am fully aware of all the details surrounding this election,” Whyte said. “I plan to be a part of SGA throughout my time here at Georgia State and I want to congratulate all my opponents, reaffirming that it is not about notoriety but rather really actively advocating for students.”
However, some students felt it was fair for Epperson to take over with Hill disqualified.
“What about those votes for Christian Hill?” Sophomore Lachelle Hippard said. “It’s not fair to either candidate because they actually won. [Epperson] won by default.”
It has not yet been confirmed whether or not the Election Commission will hold a revote. None of the members of the Election Commission could be reached for comments.
Darryll Holloman, SGA’s adviser, said Epperson was not disqualified because Hill was the only one determined to be ineligible to assume office.
Both Epperson and the executive board-elect released statements earlier this week.
Epperson said while she was surprised at the incident, she felt completely able to take over as president. The executive board-elect said in its statement that “[Epperson] is more than qualified to fulfill the duties as the Student Government Association President of the 2013-2014 school year. She ran with the understanding that in the absence of the President, she would assume responsibility as outlined in the SGA Constitution.”
