Single-digit turnouts common for student body elections in Utah

SALT LAKE CITY – The Libertarian Party of Utah announced that -- for the second straight year -- no applicant claimed the $1,000 prize offered for the general scholarship fund of any Utah college or university by this year's April 20, 2007 deadline.

The prize was part of the LPUtah's second annual Fair Representation Challenge. Rob Latham, the LPUtah's Chairman, will ask his party's executive committee to authorize the award next year.

"The processes used to elect members to the student body governments at Utah colleges and universities present a great opportunity for students to explore more competitive and representative electoral systems," says Latham. "I will continue to encourage that exploration."

Many student governments at American colleges and universities, such as the Graduate and Professional Student Senate at the University of Washington (DOC file, The Elections Meeting) and the Student Association at Rice University (PDF file, By-Law E: Elections, Article E-1, Section 2 (g)(ii) and Section 4), have adopted ranked-choice voting to foster broader student participation and representation in student government.

Last October, the LPUtah notified student body government representatives at each eligible Utah college and university of the Fair Representation Challege by email. Announcements were also sent to the student newspaper of each Utah institution accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities.

As in 2006, voter turnout for Utah college and university student body elections remained low in 2007.

• Only 1,079 of an estimated 60,000 students enrolled at Salt Lake Community College voted in this year's Student Life and Leadership elections, down from 1,100 last year.
  
  
• Ninety-three percent of the students at Weber State University didn't join the 1,294 students who did participate in this year's student government elections.
  
  
• And approximately 600 of Dixie State College's more than 3,500 students (PDF file) voted for the winning student body president candidate this spring.

"The demonstrated lack of student investment in their school elections calls into serious question the legitimacy of their 'leaders' and the relevance of the organizations they lead," says Latham.

Latham intends to announce next year's Fair Representation Challenge in the spring of 2008 following most student body elections.