CSUN may have found a new and innovative way to help increase voter turnout in this years Associated Students elections, which has gone through some difficulties in the past three attempts.

Mazen Hafez, director of elections said they hope to increase voter turnout by implementing different precincts in certain areas where students from a specific major can vote.

Students who are business majors would cast their ballot near the business building, whereas arts and media majors would vote near their respected buildings and so forth.

To avoid confusion or double voting, there will be a listing by each precinct to tell students whether or not they are in the correct place.

‘We have this thing that we call the black book,’ said Hafez.’ ‘It has every students ID number, major and class ranking and it helps us see if they are in the correct place to vote or not.’

The new balloting system has not caught the attention of many students around CSUN.

‘I’m not informed, that’s the problem,’ said Mike Gonzalez, sophomore biology student.’ ‘I don’t really know what each candidate has to offer.

However Gonzalez does believe it would be a good idea for precincts to be available by his building which could help him be more informed about the candidates and give him the ability to vote.

‘I think if they had some information about the candidates around the booths then it would give me enough information and make a decision on who the right choice is.’

Gonzalez did say that precincts near the buildings which students use most often would be a good idea to raise awareness of the candidates.

‘It sounds logical, that’s where I am all the time. So, I’d vote during my breaks or while walking in and out of the building.’

Other students who actually do plan on voting also believe it would be a good idea to have election precincts around the building they are usually in.

George Haley, a sophomore 3D-art major, clearly remembers all of the difficulties and cancelations of the previous election and is looking forward for voting to be easier.

‘I think it’s a good idea,’ said Haley. ‘I can just take a break or something and go out and vote right near my classroom.’

This will be a change from the last election, which was strictly online through a system somewhat like the portal found on the schools Web site.

Hafez said at the time a sizeable amount of students were not able to log in to vote, other students who could log in could not process their vote and other students had their ballots pre-selected and did not have the ability to change it.

This year Hafez is expecting big things from elections, hoping that the goal of having about 7,500 students to vote is met.’ He is also hoping that having a record number of candidates in this years elections will bring more students out to select the right leadership for the University.

Gonzalez thinks the new precincts around the campus would be comparable to voting on a largerlevel such as a state or national election.

‘It’s like voting on a state level, you vote in your own district right?’ said Gonzalez. ‘So it would make sense to do it that way around school.’