Student Association implements incentives to increase voter turnout
As SU’s Student Association prepares for elections, SA President German Nolivos said the association is implementing incentives to increase voter turnout. Students will receive an email Monday morning with a link to ’Cuse Activities voting. Avery Magee | Asst. Photo Editor
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As Syracuse University’s Student Association prepares for its spring semester elections, SA President German Nolivos said the association is implementing several incentives to increase student voter turnout. Voting will begin Monday and continue through Friday until 11:59 p.m.
Students will receive an email Monday morning with a link to the ‘Cuse Activities voting page. Nolivos said he hopes to encourage student groups, including fraternities and sororities, to vote by offering free tickets to University Union’s Block Party for one random chapter. SA will also give away $1,000 in custom promotional items to a random Registered Student Organization with a strong voter turnout.
While voting, students will have the option to write in the name of the student organization they want to represent with their vote. SA will post QR codes with the link to vote around campus for students to scan.
“We hope that this new incentive is gonna make fraternities and sororities feel more inclined to tell their friends and their chapter to vote,” Nolivos said. “That’s one of the things we did that we were missing, and also RSO representation.”
SA will also randomly give away five early class registration spots to students who vote.
Nolivos said SA is implementing these initiatives in hopes of reaching a 10% undergraduate population voter benchmark. SA needs this percentage of students to vote in order to pass a constitutional referendum that would rename the association to “Student Government Association” and add positions to the assembly.
Though Nolivos and his running mate Janese Fayson are running uncontested, he still stressed the importance of paying attention to assembly leadership positions. SA Comptroller Alexis Leach is also running uncontested and will remain in her position.
Alongside the unopposed candidates for president, vice president and comptroller, students will vote for 12 at-large representatives, two representatives for the College of Engineering and Computer Science and three representatives for the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. Other positions, including various other school representatives and SUNY ESF representatives, will also appear on the ballot uncontested.
Nolivos said he expects the races for ECS and Maxwell representatives to be competitive.
“Students should care about who’s running and about what we bring to the table,” Nolivos said. “Understanding who’s going to represent you, understanding those factors (are important).”
During Thursday night’s annual SA executive debate, he and Fayson discussed their top priorities for the upcoming year, which include financial transparency, safety and student engagement.
With recent budget cuts forcing RSOs to seek alternative funding for events and operations, Nolivos said it’s important for students to vote in the SA election and ensure their voices are heard.
“(With) all of the many controversial financial topics we have this year, I feel it’s also super important for RSOs to understand that they should care about Student Association,” he said. “They should care about having people in Student Association, having a voice at the table.”
Students can access the voting link in their SU Outlook inboxes after Monday morning’s email, or on SA’s website and Instagram page. Election results will be sent directly to students’ inboxes Saturday morning.
