The Record Breaking ASUCD Votes are in!

3,346 UCD undergraduates voted last week in the ASUCD election, out of the roughly 23,500 dues-paying members (i.e. all of the undergraduates). Starting from the top, the uncontested presidential and vice presidential candidates, Adam Thongsavat and Bree Rombi of the BOLD slate were announced the winners, they received 2,077 votes. As for Senators, the top 4 winners, Yena Bae, Brendan Repicky, Amy Martin, and Mayra Martín, were all running on the BOLD slate, they were followed by FUQ candidate Miguel Espinoza in the 5th seat JEW (Justice, Equality, and Waffles) candidate Eli Yani in the 6th seat. The top vote-getter, Yena Bae, received 849 votes in the first round which broke the ASUCD record of 749 votes. Upon finding out that she had received 849 votes in the first round, Bae said, “I am so thankful and so grateful. I was not even expecting it.” She attributes her success to the support she received from campus ministries and her campaign managers, and her affiliation with the BOLD slate.

Now, to get to substance, platforms! Yena Bae, the most-voted-for-candidate, ran on: 1) getting more discounts for students at downtown Davis restaurants, 2) Make extra study halls available during finals week, 3) Provide more hydration stations around campus. She plans to achieve her platform goals in that order. Brendan Repicky, the second place candidate, ran on: 1) Providing more environmentally friendly products at the Aggie Student Store, 2) Bringing more flexible parking to students, 3) Creating a system of passing on used textbooks at the end of the quarter. Amy Martin, the third place candidate, ran on: 1) Creating a website for Classical Notes to make it more accessible to students, 2) Expanding composting on campus to help UCD reach the 2020 UC-wide zero-waste mandate, 3) Create an ASUCD newsletter to let students know more about what is going on in ASUCD. Mayra Martín, the fourth place candidate, ran on: 1) Increasing high school outreach to help foster potential future leaders, 2) Creating an Academic Probation Mentorship program to increase retention and graduation rates, 3) Expanding graduate student accessible resources. Miguel Espinoza, the fifth-place candidate, ran on: 1) Consolidating and increasing funding for student service, 2) Increasing outreach to youth, 3) Creating a Military Awareness Week. Finally, Eli Yani, the sixth place candidate, ran on: 1) Justice, 2) Equality, 3) Relocating the Dining Commons’ waffle maker to the Coffee House. The ASUCD candidates are elected through a choice voting system.

There were 13 senatorial candidates in total and, as already stated, the presidential and vice presidential candidates ran uncontested. These elected politicians will be in office until winter quarter of 2012. If you are interested in learning more about the election or the vote break down, visit https://elections.ucdavis.edu/