In recent years, Associated Students of Loyola Marymount University increased voter participation in students elections so drastically that LMU is now the most politically-active Jesuit campus in the nation.
From 26% of the undergraduate student body in 2014, student government election voting grew to a record-breaking 60.4% in 2017. ASLMU, the undergraduate student government organization, looked to improve to a new record of 61% for 2018.
“Engaged citizenship is a fundamental part of the LMU mission and the LMU EXP,” said Briana Maturi, director of LMU CARES and advisor for ASLMU Elections. “Being an engaged citizen means participating in the community, and voting is essential to this participation.”
LMU’s active political community is inspired by a number of sources, but ASLMU President Hayden Tanabe ’18 suggested the elections are “hard to miss” because they’re so visible.
“You can’t ignore the elections,” he said, referring to the posters, banners and candidate signs spread across campus leading up to when it’s time to vote.
Participation isn’t solely about numbers, according to ASLMU’s Cristina Pintor ’19, but having an engaged student body is a good thing for a school as engagement energizes and excites campus.
“I think the high voter turnout shows a lot about the type of students who come to this university,” said Pintor, the elections chair for ASLMU. “Students are actively engaging in what is going on — not only on the bluff — but in the greater community and they truly care about the mission and the future of this university.”
Maturi, who is also the director of Sorority & Fraternity Life, stressed the role ASLMU serves as the governing body for all undergraduate students at LMU.
“They represent the voice of the students,” she said. “This is why voter participation is so important.”
When this year’s election polls closed on March 22, voter participation came in at 57.8% — just short of ASLMU’s goal of 61%. Alo Coleman, a junior sociology and asian and pacific studies double major, and Brenda Quintanilla, a junior political science and Chicana/o Latina/o Studies double major, were elected as the 2018-19 ASLMU president and vice president, according to the Los Angeles Loyolan.
“Although we did not hit our goal, we are still very pleased with the voter turnout this year,” Maturi said. “Despite not being able to promote it as heavily as we normally do because of the rain, we maintained last year’s goal of 57 [percent] and still have the highest voting participation of all Jesuit universities.”
Maturi added they already have their eyes set on next year’s election and ideas for increasing participation.
“We are planning new ways we can reach the student body that doesn’t depend on sunshine and catching students passing by our incentive booths” she said.
By Jack Lloyd