USC has a lot to celebrate with this year’s Student Government election. Not only did this election cycle feature one of the more diverse group of executive candidates in recent memory, it was also an election marked by an extraordinarily high voter turnout.
Nearly 50 percent more people voted in this election than last year, and, with more than 4,500 students casting their ballot for president, Student Government saw its largest election turnout since 2007.
Our fellow Gamecocks had plenty of good reasons for supporting the SG election. Candidates this year didn’t run on unrealistic, far-reaching ideas like taking Carolina Cash off campus.
This year’s campaigning, in addition to seeing more vibrant competition than past elections, was more student-centered and aggressively tailored to our needs, with feasible solutions. With increased discussion of campus security initiatives, SG student outreach and the potential tobacco ban, candidates focused on issues important to the entire student body.
We’re proud of our fellow, typically apathetic students for taking the short time needed to vote in this year’s election, but they shouldn’t sit back and relax quite yet. There are runoff elections between vice president candidates Ryan Bailey and Courtland Thomas, and treasurer candidates Haley Guyton and Caroline Hendricks.
These are important positions that will help guide life at USC for the years to come. Everyone’s vote counts, so it’s important to remember that your chance to vote for next year’s SG executives isn’t over. After all, USC is our university, and we should all make sure the best people available are representing us in SG.