Students decided the membership of the first-ever GUSA Senate on Friday, electing delegates from 23 open districts on campus after widely endorsing an amendment to the Student Association�s constitution earlier this month.

Among the new Senators are Pravin Rajan (SFS �07), the former GUSA president who ran unopposed for an Alumni Square seat, and Natalie Murchison (MSB �10), sister of the President Twister Murchison (SFS �08), who will represent the bottom three floors of Darnall Hall.

Election Commissioner Alison Noelker (COL �07), said that the Senators-elect will assume their new roles after the outgoing GUSA Assembly, 12 representatives who automatically took seats in the new Senate, approves the results in a meeting next Tuesday.

In total, 1,023 students � out of the 4,500-5,000 students living in the 23 districts participating in the election � voted on Friday, Noelker said.

For the first time in a GUSA election, students were asked to rank all candidates in their district in order of preference. The results from the Internet ballots were then determined through an �instant runoff� system in which candidates are eliminated one-by-one based on which candidate received the fewest number of votes. Voters were also given the option of voting for any write-in candidate residing in their district.

Twister Murchison said the elections ran smoothly.

�We�re so relieved and thrilled,� he said. �In past elections there has always been a kink in the elections, but this time we had 23 elections running on the same day, with only a week turnaround, working on very short time, and there were no problems.�

One issue that became an unforeseen hurdle for many potential candidates was the installment of a bylaw by Noelker that made it mandatory for all candidates to meet with her in order to be placed on the ballot, a provision that was created after students were told that they simply had to turn in all appropriate forms by last Tuesday afternoon. Candidates that did not comply with the new stipulations were not on the ballot, but were eligible to be elected through a write-in vote.

�The informational meeting was important with the passage of the new rules and the new system was a way to make sure that everything went as planned,� Noelker said.

Daniel Newman (SFS �10) said that after turning in his application forms before the deadline, he was told via e-mail that he would not be given a place on his district�s ballot since he had not met with Noelker.

�It wasn�t fair because if you have a deadline of a certain day, then anyone that turns in their forms by said day should have an equal footing,� he said.

Noelker said that three districts elected students through a write-in vote, although in two of these districts no candidates were on the ballot.

� Hoya Staff Writer Max Sarinsky contributed to this report.