The NYU Abu Dhabi 2018 Fall Midterm Elections took place from Nov. 4 until Nov. 17. The positions that were open and up for election were Sophomore Class Representative, Junior Class Representative and Senator in New York. Students were able to declare their candidacy or nominate other students until Nov. 12. The voting period took place between Nov. 16 and Nov. 17, and the results were announced the following day.

The candidates for Sophomore Class Representative included Alanoud Al Shamsi, Sion Hau, Juan Pablo Rossi and Tina Krulec. Out of the 370 members of the class of 2021, 138 submitted their votes, culminating in a 37.3 percent turnout rate. After four rounds of voting, Tina Krulec was elected the new Sophomore Class Representative.

“The participation was really low. I do think more people could have voted. How to tackle that? Maybe more campaigning for the candidates next semester,” said Krulec, who is focused on creating and fostering connections between students.

“I plan on focusing on just connecting the Sophomores a lot more. I’m trying to keep connections between people who are studying away, since the vast majority of our class will be studying away next semester all over the world … I’m open to ideas from other Sophomores and other students. I want [to] focus on bringing the whole community of Sophomores together and connecting us with different classes, especially first-year students.”

Krulec also plans to organize more events in the coming semester.

“I think [past representatives] have organized some really fun events, like the Warner Bros. Studios was really fun. I’m hoping to keep this fun up, but I do hope to organize more events and have them open to more students at the same time.”

The Junior Class Representative elections saw the candidacy of Deok Hyun (David) Kim, Aiza Usman, Rawan Dareer and Christine Kun Shao. Out of the possible 309 votes, only 96 students submitted their vote; a turnout rate of 31.1 percent. Christine Kun Shao was elected the Junior Class Representative.

The third and final round of voting was held for the Senator in New York position. Youssef Azzam, Tiril Hoye Rahn and Hafsa Ahmed, all Class of 2020, ran for the position. Out of the potential 1361 votes, 316 were submitted for this position; the turnout ratio was just 23.22 percent. Hafsa Ahmed was elected for the position of Senator in New York. Ahmed also reflected on the turnout ratio and how it compares with elections elsewhere.

“If you compare [our voter turnout] with other institutions around the world, that’s a very high rate of participation when it comes to Student Government elections, so in a sense I’m very proud of that. At the same time, I feel like, given the small size of our campus, there is an even greater potential for people to be involved in voting for their representatives.”

Ahmed provided potential solutions for increasing turnout for future semesters.

“I think there are some forward-facing things, some very easy things, that can be done to increase [turnout]. Stuff like having … the voting thing set up on iPads … in D2 so people can just like come in, vote, and then just go on with their day, or something along the lines of emailing classes that are eligible to vote a lot further in advance.”

“The biggest thing, that also goes without saying, is just being a representative voice of people from [NYUAD] … it essentially means that if there is a resolution being passed by Student Government in New York, making sure that the various groups at NYUAD that will be potentially affected by that resolution have their ideas … represented by me in New York,” said Ahmed of her hopes during her term as Senator in New York.