567 votes say it all. Just over 5 percent of the student body turned out to vote on the 31st Student Senate elections and referendum questions.
A contested Senate race, several write-ins, and high-impact referendum questions appear to have motivated students to get out and vote. This year one-third more students voted than in 2001, when 436 students voted.
Active campaigning around the Portland and Gorham campus showed passionate support for some of the issues on the ballot, and the 11 write-in candidates showed a motivation by students to want to get involved in the Senate workings. Including write-ins, seats were contested in each of the candidate categories. Nine candidates contested six seats in the at-large category. Fourteen candidates contested nine seats in the commuter category. Seven candidates contested six seats in the resident category.
All of the referendums were defeated. Question #1, which proposed raising the Student Activity Fee, was the closest vote with 244 yes votes and 315 no votes for a 56.4 percent majority.
Question #2, which asked about supporting a smoking ban on campus was the next closest, with 223 yes votes, and 331 no votes for a 59.8 percent majority.
Number 3 asked whether students supported discharging the Student Communication Board, the governing board of The Free Press and WMPG, of its duties. Student overwhelmingly voted against the measure, with just 88 yes votes and 468 no votes, or 84.2 percent against.
This is the first year that there has been voting on only one campus on a given day. Voting was in Portland Tuesday and Gorham Wednesday. This enabled the Senate to use only one voting list and eliminate double voting possibilities.
– from staff reports
Election results
309 commuter votes and 258 resident votes for a total of 567 voters
At- Large Candidates
(Top Six Elected)
Leah Wentworth 265 votes
Jessica Roy 253 votes
Tyler Stanley 241 votes
Brittany Esposito 225 votes
Kevin Chabot 204 votes
Dorn McMahon 199 votes
Resident Candidates
(First Six Elected)
Trisha LaBay 123 votes
Ben Strout 122 votes
Gretchen Chesley 110 votes
Andrew Goodman 109 votes
Bridget Ring 108 votes
Kurt Libby 6 votes (write-in)
Commuter Candidates
(First Nine Elected)
Mike Norton 134 votes
Sarah Hines 127 votes
Alison Jacobs 123 votes
Ben Hoffman 111 votes
Anthony Pergola 107 votes
Janine Gorham 13 votes (write-in)
Joshua Dolby 13 votes (write-in)
Daryl Morazzini 9 votes (write-in)
Carolyn Ezzy 8 votes (write-in)
Question #1
Activity Fee Increase
YES 244 votes, 43.6%
NO 315 votes, 56.4%
Question #2
Smoking Ban
YES 223 votes, 40.2%
NO 331 votes, 59.8%
Question #3
SCB Discharge
YES 88 votes, 15.8%
NO 468 votes, 84.2%