Voter turnout among undergraduates in the University election results announced yesterday is the highest in recent memory, according to University Board of Elections Chair Steve Yang. The undergraduate student body turnout was 53 percent.
Out of 13,390 eligible undergraduate voters, 7,128 actually voted. Over half of all first, second and third-years voted.
The UBE reported the highest turnout rates for Commerce students, with 57 percent voting, followed by a turnout of 52 percent among College students.
"This is, to my knowledge, the best turnout in the history of undergraduate elections," Yang said.
A factor that UBE members said they believe may have contributed to the high undergraduate voter turnout was the greater number of candidates running for office than in previous years' elections.
"There were a larger number of candidates than in the previous two years, so there was more publicity" this year, UBE Vice Chair Sara Anderson said.
The total campaign expenditures by all candidates in this year's elections totaled $6,007.16.
This year's top election spenders included third-year College Honor Committee representative candidate Brock Saunders at $691.07, and Student Council presidential candidates third year Thomas Gibson at $632.36 and second year Gregory Jackson at $512.07.
Members of the UBE also attributed this year's high undergraduate voter turnout to the student body's increased comfort with the elections process. The UBE made changes to the elections process -- such as making all candidate paperwork electronic -- in order to make it easier for candidates to use, Yang said.
The UBE also sought to accommodate the student body by sending out class-wide emails and extended the voting period by three days to include the weekend in order to encourage more voting, UBE member Rob Swartz said.
At 15 percent, graduate student turnout was not nearly as high as the undergraduate turnout.
"We're a bit disappointed by the graduate student turnout, but it seems on par with the previous years," Yang said.
The lower turnout of graduate student voters could be attributed to a degree of disconnectedness from central Grounds activities, Anderson said.
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