Halfway through the third day of the 2007 ASI elections the polling tents were still empty, foreshadowing a possible, historically-low voter turnout.

This year's voting process, which began on Monday March 19 and ended Wednesday, March 21 at 9:00 pm, witnessed a low turnout according to ASI officials.

VP of Internal Affairs candidate Oscar Edwards said of the approximate 30,000 students at SF State, 660 voted on Monday and Tuesday while he was busy campaigning in front of the student center.

ASI leadership development coordinator Horace Montgomery has been working on ASI elections for ten years. He believed the number of votes are directly related to campaigning.

“Voter turnout always has to do with the energy the candidates put out,” he said while standing in front of his seemingly abandoned workstation in front of the Humanities building. “The ASI staff has done more to publicize this campaign than any other, but it’s all about who’s campaigning and where they’re campaigning.”

Lacy MacAuley, the ASI Election Commissioner, agreed that the staff has done a tremendous job promoting elections this year. She did say, however, that she felt that ASI isn’t recognized for its importance.

“Student government is an important issue,” she said between occasional voters at the student center. “But I feel it’s a little bit under-utilized.”

Oscar Edwards, while handing out flyers in front of a homemade sign in the afternoon, said he hadn’t seen very many other candidates but said he had been there all morning.

“It’s good to show how committed you are,” he said. “If you can’t campaign for three days, how are you going to be in office for nine months?”

Edwards also hinted that, because of low voter turnout, next year's election may utilize the internet to make voting more accessible.

Tabulation of this years vote will take place on March 22 and 23.