Council Election Turnout Dismal

In an election cycle that was highly critized for lack of publicity, voter turnout in the Undergraduate Council general elections that ended last night fell roughly 10 percent from last fall's races.

Despite hopes from council leaders that the new on-line voting system in the house districts would vastly improve election turnout, 7 percent fewer people actually voted there--down to 18 percent from roughly one quarter of the house residents last fall.

And in the first-year districts, where the council had achieved a promising 60 percent turnout rate last year, the rate fell to 46 percent.

Overall, roughly 25 percent of the student body voted for their representatives to the council, as opposed to approximately 35 percent last year.

Earlier this week, candidates and students criticized the poor publicity for the elections.

A newly-elected Dunster House representative said that a general atmosphere of disinterest could have contributed to the low turnout.

"The candidates themselves didn't seem as enthusiastic," said Benjamin R. Kaplan '99, a Crimson editor who finished seventh in last term's race for council president.

"It was a definitely a different scene [from the popular officer campaigns last spring] with the publicity and campaigning then," he said. "You couldn't miss it."

Last spring's presidential election had a voter turnout of 45 percent.

Robert M. Hyman '98 and Lamelle D. Rawlins '99, the president and vice president elected in the spring, could not be reached for comment last night.

Robert B. Wolinsky '97 said that for next fall's election, the Election Commission will revamp the election process to increase the voting period and begin publicity earlier.

He also attributed the turnout to uncontested elections in some houses.

Houses where there were more than five candidates for the five council seats had a 35 percent turnout.

Last year's publicity efforts were also bolstered by the campaign efforts of the now defunct Progressive Undergraduate Council Coalition.

But in this election, many candidates interviewed said that other candidates led lackluster campaigns.

"The campaigns I saw were more subdued," said James T. Grimmelmann '99.

Erika L. Guckenberger '00, who ran successfully for a council seat in the Southeast Yard district, said the low turnout is not just the council's fault.

"The council can only represent the students to the extent that they're willing to participate," she said.

"If people are not willing to participate, I guess that means they're indifferent as to which candidates will represent them the best," Guckenberger said.

Only 19 out of the 88 council members are returning from last year. In fact, only 20 of last year's council members ran this fall, with Brian J. Chan '99, a Crimson editor, the sole loser.

The list of candidates are as follows, ranked by the number of votes received in each of the districts:

Adams: David S. Abrams '98, Eric M. Nelson '99, Andrew J. Green '99, Daniel V. Alexandre '97, Taj J. Clayton '99; Cabot: Wolinsky, Enmi Sung '98, Carolyne L. Guss '99, Joshua Powe '98; Currier: Andrew Reuben Ropel '98, Sarah K. Hurwitz '99, Andrew J. Owen '99 (tied with Hurwitz), Jeffrey M. Goldfarb '97, Adam S. Vaina '97; Dudley: Christine Bohrer, Nora Puffett, Diana Adair; Dunster: Marco B. Simons '97, Louis D. Monoyudis '98, Philip R. Kaufman '98, Kaplan, Laura B. Pincus '98; Eliot: Pia A. Menezes '98, Catherine D. Rucker '99, Michele A. Manahan '98, Khrista McCarden '98, Benjamin W. Hulse '99; Kirkland: Crimson editor Justin D. Lerer '99, Nicola McKinney '99, William M. Jay '98, Ron J. Avni '98-'97, John J. Appelbaum '97, Leverett: Justin Jones '97-'98, Eli M. Ce yak '99 Carston M. Reichel '98, William F. Abely '99, Tally Zingher '99, Gregory Kranias '98; Lowell: Michael J. Passante '99, Rudd W. Coffey '97, Katherine F. Mossman '97; Mather: Stephen E. Weinberg '99, Joseph P. Sena '99, Brandon Bethea '98, P. Reed Anderson '99; Pforzheimer: Joseph G. Cleeman '98, Selamawi H. Asgedom '99, Justin E. Porter '99, Aaron P. Easterly '99, Heather Chang '97; Quincy: Grimmelmann, Daniel S. Quint '97, Ali Ahsan '98, Christopher Minchberg '99, Josh Derman '99, Michael A. O'Mary '99; Winthrop: Hollis C. Waite '98, Jonathan J. Finer '98, Terry-Ann M. Burrell '99, Jason L. Perri '98, Jaime K. Chambron '99; Canaday-Union: Thomas P. Windom '00, Lillian J. Epstein '00, Noah Z. Seton '00, Maneesh R. Amancharla '00, Raqeeb M. Haque '00, Kathryn M. Hayes '00; North Yard: Brian J. Rosenthal '00, Beth A. Stewart '00, Samuel C. Cohen '00, Justin M. Krebs '00, John Paul Rollert '00, C.J. Mahoney '00; Southeast Yard: Kathleen E. Campbell '00, Chris-Tia E. Donaldson '00, E. Sonny Elizondo '00, Guckenberger, Olivia Verma '00, Robert S. Schwartz '00; Southwest Yard: Trevor S. Blake '00, Mark D. Palmenter '00, Sam Spital '00, Megan V.R. Strackbein '00

Robert M. Hyman '98 and Lamelle D. Rawlins '99, the president and vice president elected in the spring, could not be reached for comment last night.

Robert B. Wolinsky '97 said that for next fall's election, the Election Commission will revamp the election process to increase the voting period and begin publicity earlier.

He also attributed the turnout to uncontested elections in some houses.

Houses where there were more than five candidates for the five council seats had a 35 percent turnout.

Last year's publicity efforts were also bolstered by the campaign efforts of the now defunct Progressive Undergraduate Council Coalition.

But in this election, many candidates interviewed said that other candidates led lackluster campaigns.

"The campaigns I saw were more subdued," said James T. Grimmelmann '99.

Erika L. Guckenberger '00, who ran successfully for a council seat in the Southeast Yard district, said the low turnout is not just the council's fault.

"The council can only represent the students to the extent that they're willing to participate," she said.

"If people are not willing to participate, I guess that means they're indifferent as to which candidates will represent them the best," Guckenberger said.

Only 19 out of the 88 council members are returning from last year. In fact, only 20 of last year's council members ran this fall, with Brian J. Chan '99, a Crimson editor, the sole loser.

The list of candidates are as follows, ranked by the number of votes received in each of the districts:

Adams: David S. Abrams '98, Eric M. Nelson '99, Andrew J. Green '99, Daniel V. Alexandre '97, Taj J. Clayton '99; Cabot: Wolinsky, Enmi Sung '98, Carolyne L. Guss '99, Joshua Powe '98; Currier: Andrew Reuben Ropel '98, Sarah K. Hurwitz '99, Andrew J. Owen '99 (tied with Hurwitz), Jeffrey M. Goldfarb '97, Adam S. Vaina '97; Dudley: Christine Bohrer, Nora Puffett, Diana Adair; Dunster: Marco B. Simons '97, Louis D. Monoyudis '98, Philip R. Kaufman '98, Kaplan, Laura B. Pincus '98; Eliot: Pia A. Menezes '98, Catherine D. Rucker '99, Michele A. Manahan '98, Khrista McCarden '98, Benjamin W. Hulse '99; Kirkland: Crimson editor Justin D. Lerer '99, Nicola McKinney '99, William M. Jay '98, Ron J. Avni '98-'97, John J. Appelbaum '97, Leverett: Justin Jones '97-'98, Eli M. Ce yak '99 Carston M. Reichel '98, William F. Abely '99, Tally Zingher '99, Gregory Kranias '98; Lowell: Michael J. Passante '99, Rudd W. Coffey '97, Katherine F. Mossman '97; Mather: Stephen E. Weinberg '99, Joseph P. Sena '99, Brandon Bethea '98, P. Reed Anderson '99; Pforzheimer: Joseph G. Cleeman '98, Selamawi H. Asgedom '99, Justin E. Porter '99, Aaron P. Easterly '99, Heather Chang '97; Quincy: Grimmelmann, Daniel S. Quint '97, Ali Ahsan '98, Christopher Minchberg '99, Josh Derman '99, Michael A. O'Mary '99; Winthrop: Hollis C. Waite '98, Jonathan J. Finer '98, Terry-Ann M. Burrell '99, Jason L. Perri '98, Jaime K. Chambron '99; Canaday-Union: Thomas P. Windom '00, Lillian J. Epstein '00, Noah Z. Seton '00, Maneesh R. Amancharla '00, Raqeeb M. Haque '00, Kathryn M. Hayes '00; North Yard: Brian J. Rosenthal '00, Beth A. Stewart '00, Samuel C. Cohen '00, Justin M. Krebs '00, John Paul Rollert '00, C.J. Mahoney '00; Southeast Yard: Kathleen E. Campbell '00, Chris-Tia E. Donaldson '00, E. Sonny Elizondo '00, Guckenberger, Olivia Verma '00, Robert S. Schwartz '00; Southwest Yard: Trevor S. Blake '00, Mark D. Palmenter '00, Sam Spital '00, Megan V.R. Strackbein '00