The first day of voting in Student Government elections saw a lower turnout than the Spring 2013 semester.
Supervisor of Elections Justin Hoover said 5,457 ballots were counted Tuesday. Last year, the first day of voting turned out 817 more ballots.
Hoover said there were a few minor technical difficulties on the first voting day, but all were resolved quickly.
One incident that arose Tuesday morning was that the sample ballot reflected the Spring 2013 candidates, Hoover said. The issue was resolved in 15 minutes, and no students were unable to view and vote for current candidates.
Hoover said two students contacted the SG office about an error when trying to write in candidates. The issue was resolved by 9:30 a.m., and fewer than five students were impacted. All the students were able to vote after the problem was resolved.
Around 4 p.m., a power surge at the CSE polling location caused the entire lab to experience technical difficulties. They were unable to be resolved, and Hoover instructed the poll workers to immediately begin directing students to Marston Science Library.
Tori Corrado, an 18-year-old UF biomedical engineering sophomore, said her experience with the voting process was simple, and the instructions for voting were straightforward.
“I think voting is important because it’s a chance to see what you want to happen on campus,” she said.
Casey Madden, a 20-year-old UF criminology junior, said she had no difficulty with the voting process and that voting is important when it comes to “being involved on campus.”
Swamp Party spokeswoman Susan Webster said the first day of voting was successful for her party.
“We got very positive feedback from students and have enjoyed informing them about elections and our party,” she said. “Students have been extremely receptive to our qualified candidates.”
Taco Libre Party Student Body Treasurer candidate Micaela Montero Dokser said her party is focusing mainly on a social media campaign and spent the first day of voting creating Facebook posts and reaching out to students online.
Students Party spokesman Alex Klayman said he predicts general voting turnout to be lower this year.
“It’s confirming what we already knew,” he said. “Given the lack of competitiveness of the ticket, the turnout would be lower than usual.”
Voting will continue today from 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
[A version of this story ran on page 1 on 2/19/2014 under the headline "Minor tech issues, low turnout in first SG elections day"]
