Press Clipping: Saint Louis University - Student Government Association increases their voter turnout

Student Government Association increases their voter turnout

March 29, 2026
By Carlee Smith

Voter turnout for the Student Government Association's 2026 election had a major increase this year, nearly doubling the previous year. In the 2025 election, 6.58% of eligible voters participated, while in the 2026 election, 11.06% did. 

This year there were 11,121 eligible voters and 1,005 ballots cast during the two- day voting period on Feb 25 and 26. 

Sahana Gujja, a senior studying computer science, served on the election commission for the 2026 SGA elections. She said that she attributes the increased turnout to strong leadership. 

"There was more visibility and outreach around the election," Gujja said. "The election commissioner, Lilly Bowman, was really hardworking and passionate, which showed in how the election was promoted and organized." 

The SGA elections are run by an independent election commission, a group of students who are in their last semester at SLU that help operate the election while remaining impartial. 

Unlike in the 2025 election, many races were contested this year.

In 2025, only three positions had more than one candidate, and there was only one candidate running for president. This year only two positions had only one candidate while the rest were contested races. There were two presidential candidates until the day of voting, where Mason Bader was the only official candidate. 

"There seemed to be more energy from both candidates and students," Gujja said. "The overall attitude felt more encouraging and inclusive." 

W.H. Oxendine, the founder and executive director of the American Student Government Association said that contested races usually result in more voter turnout. 

"Recruiting candidates is a top priority," Oxendine said. "More candidates means more campaigning. More campaigning means more excitement, awareness, and participation by friends of candidates and friends of their friends."

Even with more contested races, Gujja said that it is still important to use tactics to encourage students to vote.

"What helps [with turnout] is consistent communication, making voting easily accessible, and helping students feel like their vote actually matters," Gujja said. "Candidates actively reaching out and connecting with students made a big difference." 

Oxendine said that it is not only important to encourage students to vote but to also show them why it is important. 

"Students won't vote if SGA hasn't proven that it does anything worth student's time," Oxendine said. "The big issue is that students don't think that SGA has authority or power. SGA must show that it gets things done."

While voter turnout was up for the 2026 SGA elections, it still did not reach the heights it had in previous years. From 2017-2019, SGA saw turnout rates consistently around  18%, since 2019 it has not surpassed 14.5%. 

Voting took place on SLU groups, as it has in previous years. This year SLU Groups experienced some technical difficulties during the first day of voting, possibly contributing to the lower rate of voter turnout seen this year as compared to 2017 and 2019. A similar technical outage saw a similar influence in the 2022 election.  

While voting on SLU Groups makes it convenient for students to vote from any location, Oxedine said that it may not be the most effective method. 

"Online voting is not enough," Oxendine said. "Multiple physical polling locations that are designed to be a spectacle are required. The look and content of the polling locations is critical also. Information and photos of the candidates, displaying what SGA has done for students."