USG sees increase in voter turnout


Following the end of the 2019 Undergraduate Student Government elections, 4,817 students voted, a 4.1 percent increase from last year’s 4,627 votes.

This year’s elections deviated from last year’s  downward trend when voter turnout for the 2018 election decreased by 800 votes from the  2017 election.

The Trenton & Mahin ticket won the election with 2,189 votes. The Michaela & Meagan ticket earned 1,807 votes and the Maxwell & Grayson ticket earned 554 votes. No one ticket garnered over 50 percent of the votes. Approximately 45.4 percent of student voters chose the newly elected presidential ticket.

Of approximately 20,000  undergraduate students, 24.1 percent voted in the election cycle.

“As students, we’re the [ones] paying tuition,” said voter Kelsea Nanan, a freshman majoring in neuroscience. “It’s our school for four years. I think students should be more informed about what the student government is doing for us and how they’re changing the campus climate that [affects] the way that we live every day.”

Out of the elected senators, Sara Khoshniyati, Emily Donahue and Haley Garland received the greatest amount of votes with 1,442 votes, 1,419 votes and 1,409 votes, respectively. Rose Ritch narrowly clinched the twelfth and final senatorial seat, beating Gabriel Savage by three votes. Ritch received 1,046 votes and Savage received 1,043 votes.

Of those who voted for a presidential ticket, 584 students abstained from voting for senatorial candidates.

Students were able to cast votes last week online via the USG elections website or in person at USG booths located throughout campus.

USG also incentivized students to participate in the election by offering free In-N-Out to students who voted on the final day.