CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE : 5% Election Turnout Is Normal

The 5% voter turnout for this semester’s Cal State Northridge Associated Students election is normal for the campus of 31,000 students, an election official said.

A total of 1,584 ballots were cast in the March 19 and 20 election in which voters approved an increase in student fees. Candidates for student offices were also on the ballot.

Last year’s election--in which 2,004 students voted, or 420 more than this year--had an unusually high turnout, said Mark Hollingsworth, Associated Students director of elections. He said this year’s 5% turnout, the minimum necessary to pass a measure, is typical. In this year’s voting, a measure increasing student fees by $5 passed with 1,100 votes. There were 342 votes against the increase.

The money generated by the increase will go toward the planning, construction and equipping of a new child-care facility on campus.

The winners for student body president and vice president will be determined in a runoff election next week.

Presidential candidate David Weiss and vice presidential candidate Sal Damji represent the United Student Alliance slate, whose platform opposed the fee increase and supported improved services for night students. The alliance captured six of the 14 senate seats contested in the election.

Brian Yasui and Jennifer Best of the United Northridge slate, which captured five senate seats, are competing against the Weiss-Damji ticket. The United Northridge slate supports the fees, Division I athletics and the finding of new sources to increase revenue.

“It’s obvious we did an excellent job reaching out to students on campus and this is reflected in the votes. . . . We’re excited and ready to assume our offices next year,” Weiss said in response to the election results.

“I expected something like this,” Yasui said of the runoff. “With three slates, it’s hard to get 50% plus one. We’ll just have to go out and do it again.”

The third slate in this semester’s race was CSUN United, one of whose candidates captured a senate seat.

The percentages of votes cast for the three presidential tickets were: United Student Alliance, 36.4%; United Northridge, 37.1% and CSUN United, 17.2%.

“I think things went relatively smoothly. It began to get a little out of hand toward the end,” Hollingsworth said, referring to some mudslinging among candidates.