As students logged on throughout the day Wednesday to vote in the final election for Marquette Student Government president and executive vice president, some said they have not felt informed in the weeks leading up to the election.

In an informal survey of 35 students conducted Wednesday by the Tribune, 19 students said they had voted or planned to vote in the MUSG presidential election. Out of the remaining students, 11 said they were not voting and five said it was a possibility.

Though some students said they felt informed about the election, others said they had a hard time finding enough information about the candidate tickets, which included Dan Calandriello and Kristen Kamm and Jamie Wu and Anna Titulaer — to make an educated decision.

College of Arts & Sciences freshman Sara Soriano said though she was an informed voter, "information was not as readily available to me as I wish it was."

"I think (the candidates) are trying to tell people to vote for them, but I don't think they're telling people why," said Soriano, who believed there would be more uninformed voters than informed.

According to MUSG adviser Jon Dooley, voter turnout may also experience a slight dip in this election due to a less competitive race.

"I would venture a guess that voter turnout wouldn't be as high as it was in previous years because there are fewer competitive senate races on the ballot," he said. "The percentage of students who vote in the elections is probably more tied to the number of candidates and the competitiveness of the campaign."

About 30 percent of eligible undergraduate students usually vote in the spring elections, Dooley said.

Some of students surveyed by the Tribune had widely varying experiences of the campaign and elections.

Amanda McCracken, a College of Communication junior, said she was an informed voter and that students need to be informed before voting.

College of Arts & Sciences freshman Maria Voell agreed.

"I think (MUSG) is an important part of Marquette," said Voell, who was thinking of voting but still needed to research the candidates. "I don't just want to vote without knowing a lot about the candidates and their campaign."

Voting is more of a task for Jud Nichols, a College of Arts & Sciences freshman who did not vote.

Voting required more effort than he was willing to put in, Nichols said.

It is just "one more thing to do," he said.

Rory Trainor, a senior in the College of Communication, said he was considering voting because of the issue of a fine arts requirement, which is part of Wu's platform, but said MUSG's presence has not affected him.

"They don't make themselves known," Trainor said. "There is no way we can tell if they doing a good job or not."

In reaction to students commenting on their uninformed voting, presidential candidate Jamie Wu, a junior in College Communication, said it is "shocking and unfortunate."

Wu also said a big part of her campaign's platform involves informing students about MUSG.

Making an organization that goes to the students so the students will be comfortable going to that organization is Wu's goal for strengthening MUSG, she said.

Dooley said he has noticed more interest among students in what MUSG is doing, which could be a factor in how many students voted on Wednesday.

"I had certainly seen increased calls in here for student government to be more transparent" and more accountable to students, he said, "and I would attribute that to a greater interest in what student government is doing and what's happening within the organization and with their efforts to represent the students.",”James A. Molnar”

“