If you ask 93.52% of the University of Oregon student body if they voted in the ASUO elections, they would say no.
April 10 concluded ASUO’s annual spring election to appoint a new student body president and vice president, along with several legislative seats. Inside this year’s ballot was a measure of no confidence against UO President John Karl Scholz and Board of Trustees Chair Steve Holwerda.
By voting “yes” to this measure, students expressed their disapproval of their leadership on a range of campus-wide concerns like the refusal to organize an alert system regarding the presence of ICE on campus, a lack of dialogue regarding recent budget cuts and more.
The measure passed with 93.18% of ballots voting “yes,” totaling 1,274 votes. In total, only 6.48% of the UO student body voted in this year’s ASUO elections.
On a campus made up of tens of thousands of students, fewer than 1,400 people cast a ballot, even on one of the most consequential student votes in recent UO history.
Between class, jobs, stressful internship hunts and the general grind of college life, it’s easy to ignore what is happening in ASUO. But this also shows a failure of visibility.
While ASUO has a significant social media presence and was seen actively canvassing during election week, ASUO elections, ballot measures and meetings are rarely discussed outside of the ASUO bubble and Daily Emerald coverage.
Before joining ASUO as its secretary of design, UO senior Jaden Rai didn’t keep up on the happenings of the student government.
“I remember voting (freshman year) and talking to people on campus who were campaigning,” Rai said. “But I wasn’t too sure about the ongoing events that (ASUO was) throwing, and the changes they were making on campus until, honestly, when I got hired.”
I caught Rai campaigning on the streets of campus, handing out flyers to students to encourage their vote in the 2026 election.
“We’re trying to be very student-oriented. The admin at UO, I feel, is not like that right now, and we have a big responsibility to represent the students in any way possible,” Rai said.
Despite their active campaigning efforts, ASUO election turnout and student support have not increased in recent years. Most students don’t even actively pay attention to what is happening in their own student government.
Political science student Yasmeen Edgar says she only pays attention to ASUO because of the people she knows in the organization.
“I think some aspects (of ASUO marketing to students) are effective,” Edgar said. “At the end of the day, most college students just honestly don’t care as much as they should about certain issues… like accessibility to certain services that universities should provide.”
Edgar said she has thought about joining ASUO in the past, but was hesitant because the organization seems too “bureaucratic and complicated.”
Student government can only thrive if students participate. ASUO has real power; it controls millions of dollars in student fees, advocates directly to the UO administration and so much more.
But none of this matters if students don’t know that it’s happening. ASUO needs to find a way to make students understand the importance of their role as students in our student government.
Nick Olsen • Apr 21, 2026 at 1:57 pm
Didn’t read this article, only the headline from a subscription email.
I attended UO 15 years ago, and have a revise for the headline-
“Fact: Students have have never paid attention to ASUO”
RC • Apr 27, 2026 at 9:27 am
I’m a current part-time student and work on campus. I didn’t even know the election was happening. When I did my first undergrad and grad here 10 plus years ago, I still wasn’t very aware. They just don’t put the information out there. I don’t think I even got any emails about it this year. I could be wrong on that since my email gets very busy with work. I might have missed it.