The elections for next year's Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) and the referendum initiated by Ian Yaffe '09 showed a significant decrease in voter participation among Bowdoin students.
The Yaffe referendum, which sought to amend the rule in the BSG constitution that states that to run for president a candidate must have served on BSG before, failed to reach the 547 votes, or 30 percent of the student body, required to become binding. Instead, only 458 students voted.
Current BSG President DeRay Mckesson '07 guessed that there was such low voter participation because of poor timing.
"The referendum vote was right on the heels of the BSG officer elections," he said.
Mckesson, however, was also disappointed in the voter participation levels in the officer elections. He said that voter participation levels were "all right, but there was a significant decrease in participation from previous years. There were a lot of uncontested races, so perhaps...people were less invested in voting," Mckesson said.
The Orient calculated that in total, 484 students voted in the non-treasurer BSG officer elections.
President-elect Dustin Brooks '08 said he thought one of the reasons for the low turnout were the two elections held the week before the BSG officer elections.
"I think it was largely an effect of voter fatigue," he said. "People had voted on two BSG elections...in the previous week before having this one announced to them."
Brooks added that turnout is always slightly lower for an uncontested presidential race.
This year, there were only two contested races for six positions, and only two incumbents running. Mckesson noted that there were several more contested races and incumbents running last year.
Mckesson said that he "was shocked that there were so many uncontested races. I really thought that more people would have run."
Jake Murray '08 said that he didn't vote in this year's BSG elections, but that he hasn't voted in previous years either.
"I'm lazy and forgetful and they play off of one another. I actually really feel bad about it," he said. "I feel like I should vote but no one really knows about it. There could be a smoother system for voting."
Bridget Keating '08 said that she didn't vote because "it wasn't the first thing on my mind. I had a really busy week."
Mckesson said that "the low voter participation this year is only a problem if it turns out to be a long term trend."
He added that it's important for students to remember that BSG has increased its strength in recent years. Before, he said, "it wasn't even really a government to participate in, but a programming body. It hasn't always been at the table for important discussions. Finally there's a system for people to participate and be involved in."
Mckesson stressed the future role of the BSG in communicating with students.
"They have to make sure that the people they represent know what's going so they understand that it's more important than they currently think," he said.
The failure of the Yaffe referendum assured that next year's presidency of the BSG would go to Dustin Brooks '08. Brooks is currently the vice president of student government affairs.
The two contested races this year included vice president of student organizations, in which William Donahoe '08 defeated Lynzie McGregor '09; and vice president of student affairs, in which Tony Thrower '09 defeated Ben LeHay '08.
Other uncontested races besides that for president automatically elected Kata Solow '10 as vice president of student government affairs, Michael Dooley '10 as vice president of facilities, and Sam Dinning '09 as vice president of academic affairs.
The race for BSG treasurer was postponed until this week due to accidental removal of a clause that stated that treasurer candidates must have previous experience on the Student Activities Funding Committee (SAFC) during the overhaul of the BSG constitution last year.
Juniors Clark Gascoigne, John Masland, and Nicole Willey submitted petitions to run for the position, and the vote for treasurer was postponed until Wednesday and Thursday of this past week.
Willey won, edging out Gascoigne by 18 votes.