Kent State’s Undergraduate Student Government announced the results of the 2016-2017 election Tuesday evening, including two of the most contested positions in the race: executive director and director of programming.

Samuel Graska, current senator for commuter and off-campus students, defeated Matthew Chernesky, current senator-at-large, for executive director. 

Graska said the win will take him a few days to process. 

“I’m bringing a lot of passion to this, and I want to make sure their (students) voices are heard, I’m gonna make it so one way or another,” Graska said to the students who voted for him. 

Candidates and students began gathering in and around the USG office at the Student Center when the polls closed at 7 p.m. Candidates talked and took pictures with each other as the final votes were tallied. 

Clifford Glowacki won director of programming. Of the four candidates who ran for director of programming, none are current members of USG. The position is responsible for bringing concerts, shows and other events to Kent State. 

“Thank you so much, and I look forward to a big programming year next year,” Glowacki said. 

The race for director of community affairs ended in a tie. Brandon Stephens, the election commissioner, said a tie has not happened in many years. 

“According to the elections rules and the election bill, it will have to be verified for sure by Donna (Carlton), and then it will actually just be decided by a coin toss,” Stephens said. 

With two days of voting this year, as opposed to one day in previous years, the voter turnout was higher. Stephens said the candidates’ active participation on social media may have played a role in the high turnout, as many campaigned via Twitter and Instagram.  

For a complete list of winners and more details on this year’s USG election, visit www.kentstateusg.com.

Contact Anthony Calvaruso at [email protected].