Just after 7 a.m. Tuesday, when the campus street lights were still lit, students in navy shirts armed with stacks of fliers began to take their places across campus.
For the Unite Party, 750 students were out making their 11th-hour push, touting their platforms as the first day of Student Government elections wore on.
The first day saw more than 4,900 students go to the polls, an amount Supervisor of Elections Amanda Griffin said did not buck the trend.
“It’s about the same in numbers compared to last fall,” she said.
At least one complaint was filed with the election commission, and the commission chair ordered independent candidates to stop identifying themselves as members of a coalition of students, due to implications that the coalition is a registered party.
Neil Gundavda, independent senator, said that no one has said that the Independent Coalition is a registered party. He said independent candidates have filed their expense reports and campaigned independently.
“These accusations are completely false,” he said.
Voters said some of the issues they were most concerned with were budgets and providing Wi-Fi all over campus.
Some voters said they came out to get involved in the political process.
“I figured I’d do my part,” said Alex Gonzalez, a computer engineering sophomore.
Gonzalez said he’s preferred this fall’s election season to the last because he’s been able to speak individually with candidates.
Nick Sands, an aerospace engineering junior, said the combination of a friend’s encouragement and an interest in the issues at stake compelled him to cast his ballot.
“I voted for people I felt would use the money in the correct way,” he said.
Other students voted because they couldn’t escape it.
Mathematics junior Jordan Draper said he was voting because of pressure from his fraternity.
“It’s frowned upon,” he said, when asked what would happen if he didn’t vote.
He also said it was implied that he should be voting for the Unite Party.
“That’s the direction that they take it,” he said.
