When Alex Lurie and Sara Whitaker announced their intentions to run for student services vice president last quarter, Associated Student Government members promised it would be the race to watch.
They were right.
The two candidates find themselves in a statistical dead heat, each claiming two endorsements and about an equal share of the student body’s votes, according to a scientific poll conducted by The Daily on Monday.
“Going into it I knew it was going to be a stiff race,” Lurie said.
The Daily polled 546 undergraduates to gauge student opinion on today’s ASG elections. Of the 546 students polled, 63.7 percent said they planned on voting.
Of 348 likely voters, 42.8 percent said they would choose Lurie while 34.7 percent said they would opt for Whitaker. The poll’s margin of error was 5.36 percent, meaning Lurie’s and Whitaker’s results could sway either way.
Presidential candidate Jane Lee came out ahead of her opponent Andy Kaufman with more than twice as many students pledging to vote for her. About 59 percent of students said they would vote for Lee while 20 percent said Kaufman had their vote.
The poll showed Karla Diaz ahead of her opponent Howie Buffett in the race for executive vice president by more than the poll’s margin of error. About 45 percent of students said they will vote today for Diaz while about 30 percent said they will choose Buffett. According to The Daily’s data, undecided voters could be the difference in the race.
In the race for academic vice president, Prajwal Ciryam came out ahead of Jenna Carls with 46.6 percent of students polled saying they will vote for Ciryam. About 24 percent of students said they plan to vote for Carls.
The collected data indicated Northwestern’s disinterest toward student politics. About 42 percent of people polled said they were unaware the elections were being held today.
“I’m kind of apathetic to ASG,” said Adam Schaechterle, a Weinberg sophomore who said he would not be voting in the elections. “I’m so busy here on campus, (ASG news is) sort of something I see in The Daily every once in a while. Ideally I think everyone should be involved, but it’s not realistic for me.”
In addition more people declined to take The Daily’s poll than said they would vote.
Some students based their votes less on endorsements and rhetoric and more on personal perceptions of the candidates.
“I don’t know too much in particular about ASG politics, but I would feel comfortable with Andy (Kaufman) in charge of that,” said Andy Stadler, a Weinberg sophomore.
About 10 percent chose the write-in option for one of the four races rather than endorsing either candidate. Weinberg junior Jonathan Powell said neither candidate for student services vice president stood out in his mind. He said he would vote for the write-in option in today’s election.
“First, I wasn’t very impressed by either of them,” Powell said. “Two, I don’t know how much substance they really have beyond the surface of their issues.”
As time runs out for votes to be cast, candidates continue to do whatever they can to grasp students’ votes — particularly in the tight student services race.
