Online Voting Sets Voter Turnout Record for 2nd Year in a Row

The high volume of votes was attributed to the popularity of the candidates and the emphasis they placed on voting, Board of Elections Chairwoman Emily Margolis said.

"We've been in touch more with the candidates about everything this year and publicized how to vote better," Margolis said.

Even though the turnout only amounted to 30.7 percent of the entire campus population, election officials and candidates declared the election a victory for all included.

"Of course I am pleased to see voter turnout so high," Margolis said. "We all worked very hard."

Margolis said e-mail reminders she sent out, as well as online voting, which was in its second year, helped increase the amount of students who voted.

Senior class president runoff candidate Paymon Rouhanifard also said he thought online voting made a difference.

"Students are beginning to see just how easy it is to vote online," he said. "The ball is really starting to get rolling."

Many of the candidates also waged last-minute campaigning efforts that helped increase students' awareness of the election.

"A lot of candidates have been on South Campus at 7 a.m. -- if you're a freshman living on South Campus, you know there's an election," said Brian Fauver, elections board vice chairman.

Former student body president candidate Brad Overcash said he tried to encourage voter turnout by reaching out to new voters. "I think a lot of my 1,700 had never voted before," he said.

Former student body president candidate Fred Hashagen said he worked hard to let students know about online voting and that he thought that effort had paid off in the large voter turnout. "I tried to get as many people to vote as possible," he said. "But I don't think anyone could have expected this turnout."

Senior class vice president runoff candidate David McIntosh said the candidates canvassed the entire campus in an effort to get every last student to vote.

"We're all very spread out with our involvement on campus," McIntosh said. "We were able to get the word out to a variety of groups."

Student body president runoff candidate Jen Daum said she did not think she had any direct impact on the voter turnout, although many of her signs publicized voting on Student Central.

The other student body president runoff candidate, Will McKinney, said the candidates' platforms resonated with the students, which encouraged them to vote.

Former senior class vice president candidate Neal Chandoke was most impressed with seniors' presence. "I was really impressed with voter turnout," he said. "We were only expecting 25 percent of the seniors to vote. Nearly half the seniors voted -- that's amazing."

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.