Undecided student voters indicate the race for the SU Elections is wide open | Kevin O’Neill

The overwhelming result that emerged from early polls on the upcoming student elections was a lack of interest or knowledge among the student body. Express staff took to the Main Rest, the Students’ Centre and the main campus between 1pm and 2pm on Tuesday March 5th and quizzed students on their plans to vote in the upcoming Student Union elections.

   In a promising turn of events, 72% of the 260 students polled maintained that they intend to use their vote next week. Given that turnout last year was under 4000, this result marks an improvement in the level of interest, one that will hopefully be mirrored on Election Day.

    The striking aspect of the polls, however, was that the vast majority of students remain undecided in terms of who to vote for at this early stage. Given that the campaigns have been restricted to an online presence until yesterday, it is unsurprising that so few definitive choices have been made.

    Despite the fact that the candidates spent substantial time on campus last week talking to students and securing nominations, it looks as though the coming days will be pivotal in securing a seat in 54 College Road for the next academic year, with sabbatical hustings taking place tonight, Wednesday, and the Express’ own husting recordings being published online later in the week.

    Of the races, it seems the Presidential and Deputy races will be hotly contested. The former sees four candidates duking it out, with the polling data collected by Express staff on Tuesday indicating that Mark Stanton holds a marginal lead at this point. The difference is a mere six votes, however, and a staggering 105 students claimed they were undecided. The Deputy race saw candidates Annie Hoey and Aisling O’Hagan separated by 12 votes, Hoey pipping her opponent by 46-34.

    Communications is a similarly close race, Joel Carey leading his opponent Owen Kirby by just seven votes, while Gavin Lynch-Frahill seems to have taken some early momentum in the race for Education, the date indicating that 31 of the students asked would favour him.

    Finally, the Welfare race remains wide open but seemed to be the one students were most interested in. Of the four candidates, Dave Berry and Daniel Waugh polled most successfully amongst the students spoken to, while the numbers indicating they were undecided were lower in this race than any other.