Voting for the Associated Students Spring General Election has been extended for the third time due to voter turnout falling short of the necessary 20% to ratify the election. Voting will continue until Thursday at 4 p.m., with voter turnout currently at 3,951 votes, or 18.44%.
The election was intended to run from 8 a.m. on May 5 to 12 p.m. on May 9, but was prolonged to Monday at 12 p.m. with only 13.2% voter turnout. Yesterday, voter turnout reached 3,645 votes, or 17.01% at the time of the deadline, and was extended for the second time to 4 p.m. today.
The ballot includes nine Associated Students (A.S.) executive and 36 senate candidates, as well as numerous reaffirmations and fee initiatives from campus organizations.
This third extension comes after two weeks of election delay following an April 29 Judicial Council decision finding election interference within the Senate. The Elections Board extended the candidacy deadline, originally March 5, to May 2, resulting in three new executive and eight new senate candidates being added to the official ballot.
A.S. Elections Board Chair and second-year political science major Ruby Hewitt was unable to confirm if the declaration of candidacy extension is precedented in A.S. history. She said due to the constant changes in voting, election results will most likely occur in the University Center and be open only to candidates, but broadcasted publicly over Zoom.
Is it precedented for the campus newspaper to be scooped by the campus radio station about an AS presidential candidate being disqualified? You cover Dan constantly. It’s almost like you are suppressing bad news about him. This is a serious accusation, Nexus. Are you going to cover all the news, or just the news you like?