Almost 40 percent of the UC Santa Barbara student body voted in the Associated Students (A.S.) Elections on April 26, the highest voter turnout since the 2014 spring quarter election.
Approximately 8233 individuals, or 39.7 percent of students voted, a 3.84 percent increase from the 2017 election.
The turnout has been steadily increasing since its sudden drop in 2015, when 30.99 percent of students voted compared to the 37.16 percent that voted in the 2014 spring quarter election. Students overwhelmingly voted for the A.S. executive candidates and reaffirmation fees over the open senator positions.
Over the past 13 years, the highest voter turnout was in 2012, when 41.78 percent of the student body voted in the spring quarter election. The lowest turnout was in 2007, when 21.95 percent of students voted.
At least 20 percent of the student body must vote in an A.S. election for it to be valid, according to A.S. Elections code.
Data courtesy of the A.S. Election Board. Hayley Tice / Daily Nexus
There were 52 candidates running for A.S. seats for the 2018 election, most of whom ran under one of two parties: Campus United (CU) or Isla Vista Party (IVP).
Executive positions included A.S. President, Internal Vice President (IVP), Student Advocate General (S.A.G.), Executive Vice President for Statewide Affairs (EVPSA) and Executive Vice President for Local Affairs (EVPLA).
The eight executive candidates included Anthony Pimental and Steven Ho for IVP, Sophia Dycaico and Jeike Meijer for EVPLA, Mayela Morales and Madeline Loudon for EVPSA, Rose Ettleson and Grecia Martinez for S.A.G. and Brooke Kopel and Justice Dumlao for President.
Ho, Meijer, Morales, Martinez and Kopel won their respective seats. The former three are members of the Isla Vista Party, Martinez ran as an independent and Kopel is a member of Campus United.
A.S. President was the most voted on position in the elections, with 83.37 percent of the student body taking part. Out of all of the students that voted, 48.98 percent voted for Dumlao while 51.02 percent voted for Kopel.
Kopel won by 2.04 percent. A recount would have been required if the number was two percent or lower, according to A.S. elections code.
Open senate positions included one transfer senator seat, one collegiate engineering senator seat, four Letters and Sciences collegiate senator seats, one off-campus university-owned housing senator seat, five on-campus seats and 12 off-campus seats.
Out of those, students elected 14 CU candidates and 10 IVP candidates into the 24 open seats.
Data courtesy of the A.S. Election Board. Hayley Tice / Daily Nexus
Students who voted cast the most votes for the NewCen measure over any fee reaffirmation or candidate. Out of the 7607, or 92.40 percent, of students who voted on the measure overall, 81.69 percent voted no while 18.31 percent voted yes.
The measure had become a controversial topic around UCSB’s campus in the weeks before the spring quarter election, specifically because it would drastically raise student fees over a period of 30 years in order to pay for the loans, construction and upkeep.
Current A.S. President Hieu Le spearheaded the project along with A.S., a Division of Student Affairs and the University Center (UCen) Governance Board. It was initially introduced as a resolution to the A.S. Senate during a Jan. 31 Senate meeting.
If the project had passed, construction would have begun in 2020 and ended in 2021.
Of the fee reaffirmations, more people, 87.38 percent, voted to reaffirm the Food Bank than any other fee. All of the fee reaffirmations passed.
Additional results can be viewed here.
No one fucking cares