Due to a history of low voter turnout, Doug Speed, the FAU Student Government supervisor of elections, attempted to increase awareness of the SG candidates ahead of election day. 

Despite his efforts, the election results show that on the Boca campus, 543 voters cast their votes, a 0.4 percent decrease from fall 2016. More than 70 percent of the 30,000 student body takes classes in Boca, and nearly 4,000 students live on campus.

There was no percent change in voter turnout on the Broward campus and a 16.7 percent increase on the Jupiter campus.

In total, 782 students voted on the Boca, Davie, and Jupiter campuses, a 1.11 percent increase from fall 2016.

After the Boca campus candidate Meet and Greet saw only one candidate present, Speed and University Wide Senate hopeful Noah Brown walked around the Boca campus informing students about the upcoming election.

The elections supervisor, along with the Elections Board, also introduced a method of voting to make it easier for students: A snap code.

“The code was so students could skip the step of typing in the website and promote a more efficient method by using an app most all students already have,” Speed wrote in an email to the University Press. “Most students are in a rush to get somewhere on campus and can’t stop and login to our ipads to vote. It is simply a means for students to get to the website and does not record how many people used it.”

Some commuter students were unaware of the elections.

“I didn’t know how to vote,” freshman civil engineering major Peter Tsouroukdissian said.

He added that because he’s a commuter student, it’s harder for him to get some of this information and feel involved on campus.

Sophomore nursing major Amanda Webb said that despite knowing about the elections, she didn’t cast her vote in time.

“I saw the tabling, and I knew where to go to cast my vote,” Webb added. “I just had too much school work to do.”

As of publication time, official election results have not been announced.

Benjamin Paley is a senior staffer for the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected].