This year’s voter turnout for the Associated Students of Central Oregon Community College elections was lower than hoped for.
The Broadside
Lauren Hamlin
There were 340 counted votes; 361 students attempted voting. One was not counted due to voting for all four candidates and the other 20 did not complete the voting process.
In last year’s election there were 13 election candidates and voter turnout was higher. Gordon Price, director of Student Life, was disappointed with this year’s numbers.
“We were hoping for more voters, we had a lot more last year…about 890 votes,” said Price, “We did everything the same as last year.”
Even though there were disappointments, Price had a thought as to why the turnout was lower than last year. ASCOCC council of 2010-11 were publicized frequently and drew attention to the way student fees were spent. Compared to last year, Price said this year’s council was more “mellow” and therefore, drew less student attention.
Kelly Huskey, ASCOCC branch campus coordinator and recently re-elected for ASCOCC council had similar thoughts.
“Last year there was a lot of controversy…and our council of 2011-12 did not [create controversy] so that might explain why voter turnout wasn’t high,” said Huskey. “Students may have felt more satisfied with our job, so there wasn’t a need for change.”
Although participation wasn’t high as compared to last year, there were still enough candidates and applicants to fill the ASCOCC council for 2012-13.
In addition to the four students who ran in the student government elections, there were six who applied for the three appointed council positions. Those who applied for the appointed officer positions have gone through an interview process. The official and complete officer slate will be confirmed by the COCC Board of Directors on June 13.
For any questions regarding the voting process or student life, contact Gordon Price at [email protected]
(Contact: [email protected])