CSU Bakersfield held ASI elections on May 13 and 14. The big winners of the day were Mike Kwon and Jennifer Sanchez; Kwon was elected as the next ASI president while Sanchez won the executive vice president position. Nevertheless, the voter turnout is concerning to us. This year’s turnout was lower at 23 percent than last year’s voter turnout, which was 24 percent. Now that ASI elections are over, we want to encourage the elected candidates to continue reaching out to students.

Even though they were elected, they need to consider that less than one quarter of the student body actually voted. This means that they are, in fact, only representing an even lower percent that actually voted. We believe the elects should be looking for ways to connect to those who did not vote. One such way would be to go out and actually engage with the entire student body. Ask questions as to what students want before making any choices regarding their campus, and ask for ideas that they have.

Encourage students to “Like” your Facebook page and keep updated information. This will keep them informed and connected to you. Knowing what the entire student population wants can be daunting considering that that some of these students have other responsibilities aside from school and may not spend much time on campus. For this reason, we are encouraging candidates to use surveys.

Send constant surveys through email asking how they feel about certain decisions and leave room for suggestions. Many students may find it easier to communicate through email. This will remind students that their interests matter most. Stay connected to them.