A total of 5,454 votes were cast in the Associated Students of Colorado State University elections, which is 18.22 percent of the entire student body. This was 1,911 more votes than the 2016 ASCSU election.
Within the first 24 hours, over 3,000 CSU students, or 10 percent of the student body, had voted in the ASCSU elections according to the ASCSU elections Facebook page.
Voting began Monday, April 3 via RamWeb at 8 a.m. and continued until 4 p.m. today. Students had the opportunity to vote for ASCSU President, Vice President, Speaker of the Senate and Senators. Voting also included choosing between two Forever Green T-shirt designs.
Sam Barthel, the ASCSU Elections Manager, said he believes diversity played a role in the voter turnout this year.
“I think there’s a diversity among the candidates, and this year we have multiple Senator seats and colleges that are contested,” Barthel told the Collegian Monday.
The number of senator candidates also contributed to the higher number of voters, Barthel said.
There were a total of 17 Senator candidates representing the colleges of Business, Liberal Arts, Engineering, Natural Sciences, Health and Human Sciences, Warner College of Natural Resources and graduate school.
“In the past there were an excess of Senate seats, and this year it was a little more competitive for Senator races, which helps increase voter turnout,” Barthel said.
Two of the colleges had only one senate candidate, but the rest of them had more than one candidate competing with each other. In the College of Liberal Arts, there were six different candidates to choose from.
The campaigning period began back in March, the first Monday after spring break.
“We tried to outreach to students a lot and give input on debates,” Barthel said. “We switched up some marketing techniques.”
This outreach included debates on the Plaza where students could ask questions directly to the candidates. The candidates have also been on the Plaza handing out fliers and stickers, as well as talking to students about their campaign.
Results of the election will be announced around 6:45 p.m. tonight in the Lory Student Center senate chambers following a senate meeting. Results will also be available through the ASCSU website.
Collegian reporter Jenn Yingling can be reached at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @jenn_yingling.
