CORRECTION APPENDED

Advancing his bid for the Undergraduate Council’s top spot, current UC Vice President Matthew L. Sundquist ’09 has chosen fellow UC insider Randall S. Sarafa ’09 as his vice-presidential candidate, according to two current UC representatives.

The representatives confirmed that there were likely to be no others running for election from within the UC this year.

Some Council members expressed concern about the possibility of a race that could go largely uncontested by those with any student government experience.

“I think the competitive elections are essential to the open discussion and debate of the many ideas involving University governance and the undergraduate community,” said current UC President Ryan A. Petersen ’08, who called the potential for a one-horse race “unfortunate.”

Michael R. Ragalie ’09, the current chair of the UC’s Student Affairs Committee, expressed similar sentiments, saying that he would be “disappointed” if the UC were only to yield one ticket from its pool of student representatives.

While Sarafa himself would make no comment about his candidacy, he did say he believed the student elections would yield “extremely innovative platforms” regardless of how few candidates decide to run.

Currently the chair of the Financial Committee, the branch of the UC charged with disbursing funds to student groups, Sarafa is known within the Council for his collaboration on projects that include universal swipecard access to freshman dorms, which he and Sundquist spearheaded while still underclassmen. [SEE CORRECTION BELOW]

Hopefuls have until Nov. 21 to officially declare their candidacy, but the two representatives told The Crimson that they had not heard of other potential candidates besides Sundquist or Sarafa—either from within or outside the UC.

The Crimson granted anonymity to the two representatives because they feared their relationships with the candidates would be compromised if they were named.

Asked about the potential protocol for an uncontested election, Election Commission Chairman Michael L. Taylor ’08 wrote in an e-mail that there were no provisions for such a contingency.

Taylor added that if such a scenario occurred, Election Commission personnel would likely be forced to confer with the UC president and the Council as a whole before voting on a final course of action.

—Staff writer Christian B. Flow can be reached at cflow@fas.harvard.edu.

CORRECTION

The Nov. 8 news article "Sundquist Selects VP Running Mate" gave the incorrect name for the branch of the UC charged with disbursing funds to student groups. It is the Finance Committee, not the Financial Committee.