Some 7 to 9% of the eligible student population voted on student senators and a constitutional privacy amendment
By VINCE BASADA — campus@theaggie.org
Six of 10 ASUCD Senate candidates were elected to the student government’s highest legislative body and a constitutional amendment protecting privacy rights was passed in the fall 2024 ASUCD elections.
Elected as senators, in order of ranked vote share, were:
- Nanki Kaur, a third-year biomedical engineering and South Asian studies double major, of the Zaytuna Slate
- Zack Dollins, a first-year political science major, of the Voice Slate
- Jenna Younes, a third-year international relations major, of the Zaytuna Slate
- Solana Rodriguez, a second-year political science — public service major, Independent candidate
- Lexi Raben, a first-year environmental sciences and management major, of the Elevate Slate
- Umar Shaikh, a second-year political science major, of the Zaytuna Slate
All six are scheduled to be sworn in at the final senate meeting of the quarter on Dec. 5.
Constitutional Amendment #92, which enshrines the right to privacy in the ASUCD Constitution, also passed with 97.2% of the vote share.
ASUCD Elections Chair Sriya Batchu, a third-year environmental policy and planning major, said that the election went well overall.
“I would say it went very smoothly,” Batchu said. “[But] there were a few bumps when it came to actually marketing the election.”
The election faced some difficulties that were specific to this cycle; Veterans Day pushed the voting period into the weekend and the United States presidential election the week before may have confused some students, according to Batchu.
2,407 people voted in this quarter’s election, which accounts for 7 to 9% of the eligible voting student population, according to Batchu. Turnout was similar to last year’s fall election which was 8.87%. Turnout in the spring is generally higher; the spring elections earlier this year saw 23.7% of eligible voters participate.
“I’m really hopeful that spring elections will again be really good,” Batchu said.
Batchu, who also serves as the vice chair of the Environmental Policy and Planning Commission, noted that in the fall election, immediately before the creation of the elections chair (fall 2023), voter turnout was 4.75%. She will be stepping down from her position before the next election cycle to give someone else the opportunity to be the elections chair.
Results for the election, which closed on Nov. 16, were released on Nov. 18. Full election results and statistics can be found at elections.ucdavis.edu.
Written by: Vince Basada — campus@theaggie.org
