Tuesday's rainy weather may have drenched political party candidates campaigning during the first day of the fall Student Government election, but it didn't completely deter students from voting.
Sarah Krantz, SG's supervisor of elections, said 3,253 students voted, which was similar to the turnout for the first day of voting in the last few elections, she said.Yooni Yi, Gator Party president, said before she heard the turnout results, she thought the inclement weather would drive voter turnout down.
"It wasn't just sprinkling," Yi said. "It was a downpour."
After hearing the results, Yi said she was surprised.
"I'm happy that students came out and voted, but there's still room for improvement," she said. "It gives us so much more credibility toward the administration when more students vote."
Yi said she probably wouldn't be happy until the turnout was 50,000.
Despite the weather, Yi said she was pleased with the first day of elections, describing the day as "smooth sailing."
She said the Gator Party candidates made the most of a bad situation.
"The mood was positive," she said. "The candidates were coming back drenched and just asking for more handouts."
Today, the Gator Party will continue its strategy of talking to as many students as possible, she said.
That goal should be easier to reach because she isn't expecting rain, she added.
Joseph Trimboli, Progress Party president, said the weather hit his party hard, but he was also pleasantly surprised with the turnout.
"There just wasn't that much campaigning going on all around because of the rain," Trimboli said.
He said his party's campaigning was mostly limited to the Reitz Union Colonnade.
Today, candidates would be spread out around campus with umbrellas.
"I'm very please with everyone," he said. "Despite the rain, students went out and voted."
He added that an improved voting system could increase turnout even more.
"This is further indicative proof that we should attempt to transfer to online voting so everybody could vote in their underwear and not trudge onto campus to do it," he said.
