New analysis of 2009 ASPSU elections released

Portland State graduate student Kyle Curtis released his 2009 ASPSU election analysis last month. The report largely focuses on data provided by students who responded to five optional survey questions attached to the online ballot.

The elections, held in May of this year, drew only 800 students to the polls—the lowest turnout since the 1998 election, when only 421 votes were cast.

In the analysis, Curtis notes that the trend of such low voter turnout indicates that the ASPSU elections are a concern to only a select group of students.

“The decisions of ASPSU have direct impact on each PSU student, yet an astoundingly small number of PSU students make an effort to influence the shape and character of ASPSU,” Curtis said in the report.

According to the report, the most common voter in the election was a junior in his or her first year at Portland State. The results also indicated that the longer students had been attending Portland State, the less likely they were to participate in student elections.

Voter turnout is also affected by the university’s demographics.

“Due to the character of Portland State University—an urban campus that is considered a ‘commuter school’ with the majority of students living off-campus—the cohesiveness gained from a strong ‘student life’ is not nearly as present as might be found at other universities,” Curtis said in the report.

Complications with the online ballot on the initial day of voting were also cited as possible reasons for a markedly low final count.

When the ballot went online, it was linked to an incomplete voters’ ballot that did not provide information for all of the candidates, thus causing accusations of unfair advantage for those candidates who were represented. Then-ASPSU Vice President Kyle Cady voided all votes cast halfway through that first day.

“Although all those whose votes were voided had the opportunity to vote a second time, whether this cancellation had a negative impact on the final tally was never confirmed,” Curtis said in the report.

It is important to keep in mind, said Curtis, that this report is about looking critically at the elections process, not about criticizing individuals, which is just not important.

What is important, he says, is increasing voter turnout. And in order to do that in future elections, it is essential to keep students involved.

“Strategies should be considered to retain student voters past their initial involvement, as they now possess the experience to be a learned voter,” Curtis said in the report.

ASPSU President Jonathan Sanford was elected when he, along with running mate Azadeh Chitsaz, won a majority of the 800 votes cast. He voiced both praise and concern for the results of the analysis.

“[The data] is definitely something we’ll take into consideration, and we appreciate that someone took the time to do this,” Sanford said. “But the only problem is that it’s not statistically relevant because of the small number of responses.”