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The Undergraduate Student Government made several attempts this year to increase voter turnout for the senatorial and presidential election, but results revealed that only about 20% of undergraduates voted in this year’s race, 300 less than in 2021.
“I was shocked at the number,” said USG Aenator and Elections Commissions chair, Omar Habhab. “I was hoping for just an increase. That was my goal when I was brought on into this position, my goal was just to boost civic engagement.”
The elections commission implemented several initiatives to try to increase turnout including voting days for students, engagement with administration, collaborations with Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and handing out information and food on campus during election week.
Out of 22,000 undergraduates, only 4,105 students cast ballots, resulting in Divya Jakadar and Michelle Lu taking office as president and vice president for the 2023-24 school year. Some students who didn’t vote said they equate low turnout to lack of awareness and were skeptical that their vote would have an impact on relevant community decisions.
“I didn’t know what each of the people represented or stood for and how that was going to impact me as a student,” junior astronautical engineering major Ashley Modena said. “I just didn’t know their platforms, so I didn’t feel very motivated to vote for them.”
Some students who did turn out said they only did so because of a personal connection to one of the candidates.
“I voted because the candidates had come to one of our club meetings and encouraged me to vote,” freshman music industry major, Julia Eden said. “I feel like [if] I didn’t have the interaction, I wouldn’t have voted because I honestly didn’t know much about it.”
Low voter turnout is not a new occurrence for the organization and was a challenge that Habhab faced in his time as commission chair. Candidates also saw about a 20% voter turnout in last year’s election when there was an uncontested president and vice president. Looking towards the future, he thinks that by keeping students informed about USG in the fall semester, more students will vote when election season comes along in the spring.
“Some students aren’t interested because they’re just not familiar with what USG is,” Habhab said. “We tried to interact with students and the students weren’t interested because they didn’t know what we actually do.”
Confusion about how USG candidates impact students was also a concern for senior music industry major, Sam Nicholson.
“I don’t know how much it directly affects me, but maybe if I was more educated about [it would],” Nicholson said.
The USC administration and USG have teamed up to create projects like the free Lyft system, medical vending machines and the creation of shuttles to LAX during student breaks.
“At the end of the day, these are going to be the student leaders that represent us and that hopefully get these projects done that will make our time at USC so much more memorable and beneficial,” Habhab said.