Panthers, the low voter-turnout is a disappointment

Kailey Krantz | Staff Writer

No matter our political beliefs it’s always important to go out and vote, so why was there a low turnout for the SGA elections? This low student turnout diminishes the chance of our voices being heard in the student government. 

In the 2024-2025 Student Government Association elections, only 3,078 students came to vote for their senators, president and vice president of the SGA. That number is nothing compared to the more than 56,000 students that attend our school.

For anyone who watched the livestream that announced the election results, it’s no surprise not many students came out to vote.

One would think the SGA elections would be a bigger deal. 

They represent the entire student body, from MMC, BBC, FIU in I-75 to FIU Online and having a position in the organization would boost any student’s resume, but the winners were announced half-heartedly with no fanfare.

For an event that’s hosted by an organization that represents the student body’s best interests in academia, extracurriculars and social issues, I imagined the event to be more professional. 

Instead, the event felt like an ordinary club meeting was taking place – almost like it was planned as an afterthought.

I’m disappointed there was very little fanfare for the winners of the election because they worked hard to campaign and advocate for the issues they wanted to tackle while in their respective positions.

There’s a lack of interest that students have about the elections that often leads to low voter-turnout, either because they don’t know too much about it or because they don’t care about student politics.

This is an issue because students don’t realize their votes influence rules and decisions that affect student life. 

If there’s very little care to voting for the representatives of the student body, what is going to make them think voting for a state representative or a presidential candidate would matter?

Students who don’t vote in college are just as likely to not participate in voting in midterms and presidential elections which can lead to certain political issues not being resolved, more political distrust and adults being less satisfied and hopeful of the current political climate.

However, if students increased the voter turnout, they would be more empowered to change the outcome and take action in student politics, while being satisfied they get to have a say in SGA voting.

It’s also possible to think students didn’t vote because of the scandals the SGA has been involved with leading up to the election, thus making the event more dramatic and politicized than it had to be.

The elections should be about voting for the person students think will do the best job in serving the needs of the student body, not be used as a stage for political warfare.

The low student turnout for these elections scares me because they can translate to low turnout for other vital elections. 

Every vote that gets tallied in an election matters and can change the trajectory of the decisions being made during the school year. The dire need for students to vote can not be said enough yet there is still a low voter turnout despite best efforts. 

DISCLAIMER:

The opinions presented on this page do not represent the views of the PantherNOW Editorial Board. These views are separate from editorials and reflect individual perspectives of contributing writers and/or members of the University community.