The ballots are cast, the polls are closed and this year’s Student Government campaigns have come to an end. This campaign season was a trailblazer in terms of how tickets utilized the student voice during elections.
According to the SG Election Board, 9,938 students voted in Monday’s general election on Moodle. As of Tuesday afternoon, around two thousand students voted in a revote for the University College Center for Freshman Year after a member-at-large candidate was left off the original ballot.
Although this year’s voter turnout was less than one-third of the student body, turnout was significantly higher than last year, when around 8,700 students cast their votes.
Sophomores made up the highest percentage of student voters, 27.9 percent, with a total of 2,776 votes. Seniors, including fourth- through seventh-year students, followed, with 27.8 percent and 2,767 votes. Juniors came in third with 2,525 votes, and freshmen voters made up the lowest number of votes — only 1,870 first-year students cast their ballots.
After Thursday’s debate, campaign managers reflected on their candidates’ performances during the debate and throughout the campaign season. Drake Boudreaux, “Forward” campaign manager, said the debate was a culmination of the campaign’s hard work.
“They’ve been preparing for this for so long, and to see all the initiatives come to fruition and to see them talk about them … it’s all because of Zack [Faircloth] and Lindsey [Landry]’s leadership,” Boudreaux said. “I think it speaks a lot to the leadership we have on campus [in both campaigns]. It’s awesome that we can have student leaders represent us so well.”
“Restart” campaign manager Wesley Gore said the debate further illustrated the initiatives his campaign was trying to accomplish.
“I think [Kendra Davis and Louis Gremillion] hit our initiatives head-on. I think they got our platform across and exactly why we’re running this campaign how we are,” Gore said.
Along with candidates for next semester’s SG positions, a measure to create a Student Sustainability Fund was on the ballot. If it passes, the resolution would create a fund that students can draw from to start their own campus sustainability projects.
Mass communication and Spanish freshman Alex Thomas said he voted in favor of the fund because the result of the project would be more beneficial than the cost.
“It wasn’t that much money, and if everyone contributes, it will really help improve the LSU community,” Thomas said. “That would help not only my class but the classes behind me.”

Gallery • 1 Photos

Javier Fernández

Students campaign for the Student Government General Election on Monday, Mar. 7, 2016 on LSU campus.