By Anna Walters
This year's ASUP election had the highest voter turnout in six years. The election was conducted online for the first time, and 1,331 students - 45.5 percent - cast their votes via a link on the PilotsUP portal.
"We're stoked about the turnout," ASUP President David Gregg said. "Forty-five percent is pretty good for any election in the modern era."
The race for president and vice president is still up for grabs as none of the three pairs running received a majority of the vote.
ASUP's election bylaws state that the winning candidates need 51.1 percent of the vote. If a majority candidate does not emerge, then a run-off, or a second election for the undecided positions is held.
Presidential hopeful Kyle Bunch, a junior life science major, and his VP running mate Allison Able, a junior history major, will face off against junior civil engineering major Daniel Rhine and sophomore biology major Alyssa Schmidt-Carr, a pair running for president and vice president respectively. The run-off is scheduled for next Tuesday. Students can vote between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. on that day.
"I knew it was going to be pretty hard to get a majority of the votes with three tickets," Bunch said.
Bunch and Able received a majority 39.8 percent, with Rhine and Schmidt-Carr close behind with 32 percent of the vote.
"I'm kind of in shock because I didn't really expect to win (the majority of the vote)," Able said. "I'm excited to see what will happen and a little worried that no one will vote (in the run-off)."
Rhine plans to campaign for the run-off as fiercely as he did for the ASUP elections.
"I only hope that the same voters realize that next Tuesday is another day to make an important decision," he said.
President and vice president pair Paul Arnautoff, a junior finance and accounting major, and Jovelyn Bonilla a junior communication major were eliminated with 25.3 percent of the vote. The remaining 2.9 percent of students either chose not to vote for one of the three pair or wrote in other candidates.
"I want to say thanks to everyone who voted for us," Arnautoff said. "I wish the best of luck to the other candidates. Arnautoff said the loss won't effect his decision to run for ASUP senator next fall.
"I just won't have the title," he said.
Cotlon Coughlin, a sophomore civil engineering major, beat out freshman business major Danielle Castro for secretary, winning 61.8 percent of the vote.
Benjamin Taketa received a majority 67.9 percent of the vote for the position of treasurer, beating out sophomore business administration major Trevor Harvey.
Next year's CPB director will be Tarra McCurdy, who earned 51.9 percent of the vote with her opponent, junior marketing major Kaitlynn Darmon, taking 31.9 percent.
This year's election also marks a high turnout for freshmen voters at 49.8 percent, up from 20 percent last year. Although more seniors voted this year than last - up more than 10 percent - the class represents the lowest turnout for this election.
"I'm proud of the freshmen," Gregg said. "The fact that half of them voted shows they are involved and have their eyes open to what's going on on campus. To be honest, I am little disappointed in the seniors because they do have a vested interest in the growth of the school and the continued success of ASUP."
Jeromy Koffler, director of Student Activities, considers the first-ever online ASUP elections a general success.
"I'm very pleased with the outcome of the online election," Koffler said. "The students increased voter turnout, it cleaned up the process, and there were less opportunities for human error."
