The result of the 12th Student Senate Election came out last Wednesday. Only 9 were elected from the 13 candidates, far shorter than the 42-seat threshold. A total of 853 votes, about half the votes compared with last year’s election, were cast in this election, with a 3.25 percent turnout rate, including 18 invalid ballots.

Candidates needed to pass the minimum of 60 votes for the seat. Chen Zhi-hong, a junior in the Department of Insurance, got the most votes with 104 votes. Other members elect of the Student Council and the number of votes each candidate got are listed in the following: Zhen Ya-ru, Senior, French Department; Luo Wei-cheng, sophomore, Department of Industrial Economics; Wang Shi-haw, The Graduate Institute of China Studies; Li Ke-han, Senior, Department of Public Administration; Yang Yu-teng, sophomore, Department of Management and Decision Making; Li Jian-wei, junior, Department of Public Administration; Lin Jia-jun, Department of Mathematics; Liu Jia-yi, junior, Department of Educational Technology. Hsu Ying-chang, a junior on the Department of Electrical Engineering, got 59 votes and failed to pass the minimum threshold. The inaugural ceremony will be held on 7:00 PM tonight in B310.

The 9 newly elected student senators, coupled with 18 incumbents have brought the total number of council members to 27, still shorter than the 30 seats required for a quorum. Guo Yi-cheng, the administrator of Student Senate Election declared that there would be no time to conduct the by-election this semester; therefore, the by-election will be held next semester.

As the only graduate student among the elected senators, Wang Shi-hau says he will do his best in fulfilling his promises during the election, and if any students want to express their opinion about the school, they shouldn't forget to call on him. Li Ke-han, another elected senator, crippled due to a car accident and consequently wheelchair-bound for the rest of his life, says the reason for him to join this election is that he wants to speak for other handicapped students and to urge the school to provide a friendlier environment for them.