SGA Elections receive record turnout

     Voter turnout dramatically increased this year due to online voting as students re-elected incumbents Ryan Greene for SGA President and Justin Haight as Vice-President.
Freshmen David McLaughlin and Zach Mullins, who are currently SGA senators, were elected as secretary and treasurer, respectively.
     About 2,400 students cast their votes in this year’s election, which is a significant change from years past when the highest voter turnout was only about 500 students, according to Greene.
     For Greene, going from only a tenth of the student population voting to about half is nearly as exciting as winning the election.
     Students could vote for the Mr. and Miss GCSU and SGA elections all at once either on campus or through MyCats, which in Haight’s opinion is what encouraged so many students to vote.
     “We did combine the election along with Mr. and Miss GCSU, but then you do have to give a lot of credit that it was done online,” Haight said. “That was something that was brand new to everybody. We weren’t really sure how that was going to work out, and it obviously worked out for the best.”
     Greene and Haight campaigned differently than their competition by not only putting their names out, but also by using their accomplishments to sway voters in their direction.
     “We really tried to promote what we have done this past year, and I really think that helped us out,” Haight said.
Greene says he is most proud of this year’s homecoming and establishing a fall break, which many students are excited about.
     Adamo Vullo, junior business major, agrees that this year’s homecoming has been much better than in previous years.
     “The other two years I’ve been here there hasn’t been anything to make people want to stay. It has just been kind of lame,” Vullo said. “This year there was something cool going on, and it was fun for once.”
     The pair looks forward to another year together to serve the student body, and will use the experience they have gained this year to make even more improvements.
     “When you’re brand new to the position, you don’t really know the system and how things have happened to the past,” Haight said. “In my opinion, just having done it before is probably the biggest thing I bring to the table.”
     The issues Greene and Haight will take on next year as president and vice president are yet to be decided. Once the new SGA senators are elected in August the top five priorities for the school year will be determined.
     “I think it was a good year,” Greene said. “We have a good board this year, but we have a really good board for next year. I’m excited to keep working with what we’ve been doing.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Mar 7 2008. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry