If you were one of the 1,476 undergraduates who voted in the 2019 undergraduate presidential and vice presidential elections, you might have noticed a couple of survey questions underneath the candidate's name.
The poll was conducted by the Associated Students of the University of New Mexico Elections Commission during Adam Biederwolf and Madelyn Lucus’s successful bid for President and Vice President, respectively. The election saw nine percent of the 15,609 UNM undergraduates turnout to vote.
There were two questions on the ballot: “How did you hear about this election? Please select all that apply,” and “Why are you voting? Please select all that apply.”
Of the 1,294 people who responded to the first question, 555 selected “I know a candidate,” while 517 selected “From a candidate who was campaigning.” Those two answers were outliers in the survey. The third largest response was “ads or fliers on campus” at exactly 300. That was followed by “from a group I am apart of” at 262, “Facebook” at 143, “Daily Lobo” and “other” at 141 and “I saw a polling station” at 91.
The second question had 1,287 respondents. When asked “why are you voting in this election?” 846 students selected “ I want a voice in student government.” That’s about 57 percent of everyone who voted. Another 578 said they were voting because “I know a candidate.” Just 165 said they voted “a group I am part of endorsed a candidate.” Lastly, “other” was selected by 96 survey takers.
This is the first part of a two-part series on the ASUNM election survey data.
Justin Garcia is a staff reporter for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers student government. He can be contacted at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @just516garc.
