The unofficial results of Student Government’s Legislative branch elections showed two things: who won, and small voter turnout.
Out of 28,279 people enrolled at Florida Atlantic University, 3.2 percent voted to elect three senators and 53 members to the House of Representatives.
In fall 2007, voter percentage at the Boca Raton campus was 6.38 percent and decreased to 4.82 percent in 2008. Skip two years ahead to 2010, voter percentage was up to 5.45 percent and decreased to 4.38 percent in fall 2011.
This year’s low turnout still caught the Legislative branch candidates off-guard.
“I expected there to be a low turnout rate because people don’t really take the voting seriously,” said Jessica Concepcion, political science and public management major from Ft. Lauderdale. “I was still surprised at how low it really was!”
Concepcion received a total of 107 votes, while the lowest amount received was 66. She believes the low turnout was due to the still developing culture and school spirit at FAU.
When asked if they knew the elections were taking place, students had mixed responses.
“Yes, but I didn’t have time,” said Jewel Thompson, a junior biology major.
“Kind of. Sorta glanced at the email,” said Thivy Pham, a junior marketing major.
Students were notified of upcoming elections via e-mail on Aug. 22 and Sept. 8. On Sept. 23, students were notified via e-mail that the elections would begin Tuesday, Sept. 24 at 12:01 a.m. and close on Sept. 25 at 11:59 p.m.
After the polling stations closed, the unofficial results were posted on the door of the Elections Board Chair Michael Brown (check the bottom of the story to see results yourself).
“[W]e typically see a average turnout level in the fall election of about 3 to 4 percent,” stated Brown.
SG received $10.8 million this year from student’s Activity and Service fee, the second highest fee added to FAU student’s tuition each year (the first being the Athletic fee).
The Elections Board will certify the official results after complaints and contestations are heard. The candidates, once in office, will hold their SG position until next fall.
For more information on how to stay invovled with SG meeting times and public notices, visit http://www.fau.edu/sg/.
On the Boca campus, a total of 901 student votes were counted to elect three senators as well as the House of Representatives. Katie Morris received a total of 438 votes and overall 31 percent of all votes. Aaron Sherman received 311 votes and 22 percent. Boris Bastidas received 299 votes and 21 percent of total votes.
On the Jupiter (MacArthur) campus, a total of 139 votes were counted to elect three Senators and six members to the House of Representatives. Among the Senate were Benjamin Arsali, Shan Raja and Selene Vasquez. The House of Representatives consisted of Calvin Bankert, Lyly Feliciano, Mumbi Nugugi, Chenchen Su, Alejandra Uribe and Nicholas Van Zee.
On the Broward campus, 48 votes were counted to elect two senators and seven members to the House of Representatives. Senators unofficially elected are Jonathan George and Josh Slautterback. The House of Representatives consist of Ana Bravo, Ansel Brooks, Haley Burger, Sandie Clarke, Stephanie Fortune, Renee Graham and Confidence Okoye.
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Find the Unofficial Election Results below:
