USG discusses ways to increase student voter turnout during elections

The Undergraduate Student Government will be implementing efforts to increase student turnout at USG elections, chief elections manager Sung Won Chang ’18 said at the senate meeting on Sunday.

Chang said that he would be setting up tables before future elections to encourage students to vote and might also look into implementing a single transferable vote system which would eliminate the need for runoff elections.

“We could do much better in increasing the turnout, including increasing publicity,” Chang added. “Something I could work on in the future is reaching out more to candidates. Next will be spring elections.”

Chang noted that in the winter USG elections that ended Dec. 1, 1,727 students cast ballots in the first stage of the elections for a fairly standard turnout of 33 percent. The turnout dropped somewhat for the presidential runoff election, with 28 percent participation, he said. Chang added that members of the Class of 2017 and the Class of 2018 voted in larger numbers than other classes.

“This does seem natural given that people that know candidates are more likely to vote,” Chang explained, adding that the freshman turnout was unusually low compared to other years.

U-councilor Ethan Marcus ’18 said that he, USG president Ella Cheng ’16 and Class of 2018 senator Paul Draper ’18 met this past week to discuss the referendum handbook changes.

Cheng is a former staff writer for The Daily Princetonian.

Marcus explained that the proposed changes require potential referenda sponsors to be in touch with the elections manager at least five weeks in advance of the elections cycle and that there would be a week allotted for both sides of the issue being discussed to present their arguments and collect signatures.

“We basically want to make a schedule that would work for a substantial, controversial referendum. We also need time for the opposing party to form,” Cheng said. “We hope this will foster a mutual debate between all parties.”

Cheng added that this also gives enough time for the elections manager to advertise the referenda separately from the regular candidate announcements, and that the one-week consolidation would allow the chief elections manager to effectively police the parties. The Senate voted to approve these discussed changes to the referenda handbook.

Director of the Fields Center Tennille Haynes spoke to the senate members about the Center’s mission going forward. Haynes noted that the Fields Center hopes to discuss race, class and privilege at the University and beyond and wants to be as open and inclusive as possible.

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“We represent about 42 percent of the population,” Haynes said. “It’s hard to capture all those communities under one slogan.”

Haynes noted that the Fields Center is planning to hold a photo campaign on campus to express its goals. In addition, she said, the Center is going through a comprehensive rebranding and revamping process that includes diversity peer educators, new programs and new events.

“The first thing I felt when I walked in was, this doesn’t really feel like a cultural center, it’s kind of sterile,” Haynes said, explaining that the Fields Center will probably be undergoing physical changes to accommodate student needs better.

The new programs will start by the spring or fall 2016, according to Haynes. She added that the Fields Center wants to keep its historic name, as Carl A. Fields, the first African-American dean in the Ivy League, began his administrative career at the University. Haynes also introduced some ideas for a new logo for the Fields Center, including making the font for the word “Equality” larger than the other words.

“We really wanted to highlight what we stand for,” Haynes said.