Ryan Chartrand
Click here to view an interactive guide to the Rec Center referendum.
Cal Poly students voted in record numbers last week, overwhelmingly voicing their desire for a bigger Recreation Center.
In a lopsided margin, 74.5 percent of students voted “Yes” for the referendum compared to only 25.5 percent voting “No.”
The 7,309 ballots cast online represented 37.7 percent of the entire student population. Only 22.5 percent voted in last year’s Associated Students Inc. presidential election when sponsored campus polling locations were used.
The referendum approved a $72 million plan to expand the Rec Center by 14,000 square feet, including new courts for basketball and volleyball, a multi-activity center for sporting and entertainment, two synthetic fields, air-conditioning and a leisure pool. The project is slated for completion in September 2011.
“Something is ripe at Cal Poly for student democracy,” said Brandon Souza, ASI president. “Students were given the opportunity to vote, ASI did its best to provide an informative campaign, and the students provided a clear initiative for ASI to carry out.”
ASI representatives, decked out in bright blue eVote T-shirts, anxiously awaited the results for 30 minutes after the polls closed at 7 p.m. Thursday. Once the numbers came in, the group was pleasantly surprised, said ASI chief of staff Laura Baldwin.
“We are very happy with the voter turnout. ASI tried to get the word out, and we obviously reached the students. It’s very exciting,” Baldwin said.
An energized Souza was pleased with the eVote campaign and said the turnout was the highest in the California State University system history, citing Humboldt State’s 30 percent as the previous record for largest turnout.
The referendum was the first election in which Cal Poly students could vote electronically from any computer with Internet access.
“The vote was done on behalf of students on an issue at the forefront of their concerns, and ASI will be there every step of the way until the ribbon cutting ceremonies to make sure their will is carried out,” Souza said.
The results of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification opinion poll will be released next week.