New ASI president elected after 3.5% voter turnout
Jaime Arellano sharing his thoughts about the ASI election process anticipating the results.
The recent ASI election saw a nearly 40% increase in participation, according to elections and outreach commissioner Eric Piccolotti. Even still, the voter turnout this year was only 3.5% of the student body.
Despite having over 26,000 students, only 950 Golden Eagles participated in the student election.
Piccolotti said that more participation is needed, despite the increase of 300 votes from the year prior.
ASI had set a goal of 10% participation, which was not met.
Some ASI board members were disappointed by not meeting that goal.
“Even though I have no complaints, I feel like we need to be getting more than just the 10% we are shooting for,” said Jaime Arellano, the new ASI president.
Arellano received 72% of the vote, according to Piccolotti. Out of the 950 students who voted, 928 only voted for the president, meaning Arellano received 674 votes.
Arellano agreed with Piccolotti about more participation being needed. He also said he wants to push ASI to do better and get more students to acknowledge and care about taking the initiative on campus.
Arellano said that he wants to bring more transparency to the Cal State LA community and show students where each dollar is spent.
The food events provided by ASI during election week accounted for 84% of the vote recorded in the election, according to Piccolotti. Every event ASI organized to promote voting on campus ran out of food.
Most potential candidates were running unopposed, such as the Arts and Letter Representative, Elin Olausson
“I do want to make a change,” Olausson said. “I believe there are a lot of things we can work on. The students here at Cal State LA need more motivation, and I want to be a part of that.”
Olausson said she wants to encourage students to make the most of their Cal State LA experience, and not waste any of their time.
Election results were announced on April 28.
The winners of the U-SU board of directors election are as follows: Anniesa Kuchison, Cameryn Alexis Mabry, and Thilo Yasuda. The five remaining seats will be appointed by the U-SU board.
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