A Daily Northwestern poll at 10 locations around campus on Friday showed that while three quarters of the 484 undergraduates polled said they would vote, many still had not decided whom they would vote for in today’s Associated Student Government elections.

Last year, a large majority of students polled knew whom they would vote for. This year the unusual number of candidates vying for ASG president may explain why so many students are still undecided. Six students are running for president, three students are running for academic vice president, and Communication sophomore Jay Schumacher and Weinberg sophomore Whitney Gretz are running unopposed for executive vice president and student services vice president, respectively.

Students also may simply know less about the candidates this year.

Hayley Kercher, who marked that she was “undecided” for all four positions, said she had not researched the candidates enough to make a decision.

“I don’t really know anything about any of the candidates, but I feel like I ought to vote,” said Kercher, a Medill freshman.

Kercher added that while high school election events were mandatory, college debates and rallies are optional and students end up not learning about the candidates.

About 34 percent of students polled said they have not decided whom to pick for president. Of those who knew, 19 percent chose Music junior Patrick Keenan-Devlin. Keenan-Devlin was followed by Weinberg junior Prajwal Ciryam, who received 13 percent of the vote, and Weinberg junior Ketica Guter, who received 11 percent of the vote.

Keenan-Devlin said although it is good to hear that he is ahead, he will not get his hopes up yet.

“I always see myself as an underdog and I’ll just keep fighting until Tuesday to make sure we make it to the runoffs,” he said.

Keenan-Devlin said on the final day of the campaign, he will try to “race to the finish line” by getting as many last-minute votes as possible.

Poll results also showed that almost half of students marked “undecided” for the executive vice president and student services vice president races, even though Schumacher and Gretz are running for those positions unopposed. Howard Buffett, who withdrew from the executive vice president race Thursday, received 9 percent of the vote.

Schumacher’s campaign manager, Melissa Borschnack, said she isn’t worried that high numbers of undecided votes will lead to a “no confidence” vote against Schumacher. She added many students do not decide who they will vote for until just before the election.

“The average student won’t look into their options and go on the candidate’s Web sites until right before they vote,” said Borschnack, a Communication senior.

Communication freshman Jessica Vaughn said she would vote for Schumacher, but marked that she is undecided for the student services vice president race.

“I had done some research on the other campaigns, but I haven’t really looked into what (Gretz’s) initiatives are,” said Vaughn. “I wasn’t sure if I would (vote) for someone just because they were the only one running.”

Fifty four percent of students polled said they had not decided whom to vote for in the academic vice president race. Of those who knew, 19 percent marked Weinberg sophomore Jason Downs as their choice.

Weinberg junior Lindsay Shadrick said she would vote for Downs because she thinks his ideas are the most cohesive.

“I think Jason has a really good platform,” Shadrick said. “I work for CTEC and his idea to make professors post CTECs is a really valid one, if it’s feasible.”

Reach Julia Neyman at [email protected].