When it was all said and done, even
Otter Pops, fortune cookies and condoms weren’t enough for
more than three-quarters of UCLA undergraduates.
Voter turnout in Undergraduate Students Association Council
elections was down by 219 from last year, the first year voting was
conducted online. For 24,899 undergraduates, voting was as easy as
typing in a nine-digit identification number and a four-digit
password. But voter turnout was down by more than 1,000 compared to
1999 when students had to brave the elements to grapple with
cumbersome paper ballots.
What does low turnout mean?
First, it means the average UCLA student doesn’t care what
the hell happens to the $100 of his or her student fee money that
goes directly to council annually.
Second, it means council should do more to get people to vote.
It has yet to be adequately explained why voting hours were
restricted this year. Maybe council was concerned about drunkies
logging in to vote at 2 or 3 a.m. after a long night at
Madison’s. But at this point, USAC should accept all the
voters it can get.