Record Low Turnout Marks First Freshman Caucus Election Under Phone Ban

Only 252 out of 827 eligible freshmen cast ballots in this year’s Freshman Caucus election, marking a 30.5 percent voter turnout—the lowest on record for any caucus election at Stuyvesant. The dramatic drop from last year’s 44.3 percent turnout has raised concerns about the impact of the new phone ban policy, and whether future election cycles will face similar challenges in voter participation.

Stuyvesant’s Board of Elections (BOE) manages and oversees all student government elections, which involves ensuring fair campaigning and voter procedures. Caucuses serve as student leadership bodies for each grade, organizing events and representing their class’s interests for a variety of initiatives such as SING!. The freshmen election holds particular significance as it is the first opportunity for students to participate in Stuyvesant’s democratic process and to choose peers who will advocate for their needs. Furthermore, successful participation and leadership within the Freshman Caucus often set the precedent for leadership within student government and in subsequent years. 

The election’s clearest complication was the technical issues on the BOE website, which prevented hundreds of students from logging in and casting their votes on November 26, the original election date. The error message read: “There is no user with that email in the database,” blocking access for all voters except the candidates themselves, whose accounts were pre-registered in the system. “Only me and Ella were able to vote, while our campaign managers said they couldn’t log in and vote,” Freshman Caucus Co-President Richard Lin said. 

For students who chose not to participate, these issues only reinforced existing doubts about the caucus’s relevance within the school. “Although I knew about the election, I ultimately didn’t vote because I felt like student government wasn’t impactful, especially Freshman Caucus,” freshman Hanlin Chen wrote in an email interview. “Many things candidates promoted in the election cannot actually be achieved, like lifting the phone ban, or were things that already exist school-wide.” The technical issue ultimately discouraged Chen from voting on the original day. “[It made me] lose interest to continue voting since I didn’t see how it affected me substantially anyways,” Chen wrote. 

Many students share the same sentiment, demonstrating a broader issue with our election—the root cause of low voter turnouts—student apathy. The technical difficulties on election day represented only part of the problem. The phone ban, implemented this school year, prevented students from accessing their devices between 8:00 a.m. and 3:35 p.m., which overlapped severely with the voting window of 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. “I had many people having issues with the links and asking me for help,” Freshman Caucus Co-President Ella Lee explained. “And also telling me, ‘I forgot to vote because I couldn’t use my phone during class.’” 

The phone ban presented additional obstacles for students attempting to participate in the election. “The phone ban made voting more difficult because most students were unable to vote throughout the school day,” freshman Sophie Yeh said in an email interview. “Although I remembered to vote after the school day ended, many of my classmates brought up how they had forgotten to or couldn’t due to the time restrictions.”

The phone ban also impacted the campaigning process. Running caucus tickets typically rely heavily on filming promotional videos during school hours. “Me and Richard had to connect on certain days after school to film reels together,” Lee said. The device ban also made using QR codes, which are typically used to spread campaign platforms, less effective. “We still put up QR codes in case people after school saw it, but nobody could scan it during the school day, which we know was a huge issue and would probably affect interest overall,” Lee said.

In response to these obstacles, the BOE postponed voting to December 1st, the Monday after a long weekend. This delay only added onto the existing challenges that the candidates had to work through. “Everyone’s going to forget to vote. We were hyping this day up so much. And then boom, it’s canceled,” Lee recalled. Lee’s prediction proved to be correct. “A lot of my friends messaged me after the election saying, ‘I’m so sorry, I completely forgot to vote. I didn’t know they changed the date,’” Lee shared.

Other caucus leaders recognized the phone ban’s significance for future elections. Sophomore Caucus Co-President Elly Wu Feng said in an email interview, “I think this really serves as a hint for all future tickets to adjust their campaigning strategies in order to maximize student awareness and participation in the elections.” 

Senior Caucus Co-President Vanna Lei also emphasized how the ban disrupts traditional get-out-the-vote efforts utilized in previous elections. “Students usually vote the moment we tell them to,” she said in an email interview. “Many would pull out their phones to vote right away. Otherwise, they would forget and end up not voting later in the day,” she added. Lei expects the next cycle of elections in June to see a decrease in participation, though perhaps not as severe. “A huge population of students who are going to vote have already voted before,” she said. “I would think that the freshman class this year is an exception because they’re still unfamiliar with the whole process.” Those running for Sophomore, Junior, and Senior Caucus in June will likely have to adapt their campaign methods because of the device ban.

Proposed solutions to the low voter turnout vary. “[Send] another email to remind students to vote after school, […] [have] voting booths (with devices) stationed near the entrance, and […] align election day with a homeroom day so everyone is given an opportunity to vote,” Lei suggested. 

Wu Feng and Junior Caucus Co-President Mitali Jhaveri both recommended extending voting to two days instead of one. Lee also advocated for longer voting hours. “For elections in June and SU elections, some of us in Caucus and SU talked with Polazzo briefly about the idea of two-day elections or a potential homeroom day where you’re allowed to take out your phone and vote,” Jhaveri explained. 

Freshman Noah Deer, who voted before school started, suggested creating designated phone-use spaces. “I think they should have exceptional spaces for important things like voting and homework,” he said in an email interview. “[We could have] a sub [to] supervise a room where you can use the phone.”

BOE co-chairs Sofia Pisareva and Liz Burnell acknowledged students’ concerns but emphasized measured responses. “We acknowledged that the phone ban could make voting less convenient and possibly diminish participation initially,” they said in a joint email interview. “Still, we trusted that those determined to vote would exercise their duty despite the inconvenience,” they added. The chairs noted that “typically, a large portion of votes gets entered in the morning, some come during the day, and then some more after school,” leading them to believe that the phone ban will not have a significant impact on voting. Regarding their role in boosting voter turnout, Pisareva and Burnell clarified their position. “The BOE’s primary duty is to ensure fair and orderly elections,” they said. “The responsibility to vote lies with each student; no one can shift that personal duty onto the BOE.” 

However, the BOE is actively exploring options to respond to these new circumstances. “We were already working on ways to boost engagement within the phone ban limits,” they said, adding that they are collaborating with Assistant Principal of Pupil Personnel Services Casey Pedrick on potential changes. One consideration is moving elections from Monday to Friday. “[We believe] the day of the week influences participation,” they said.

Whether these changes will reverse the dramatic decline in voter participation remains uncertain. The 30.5 percent turnout in this year’s Freshman Caucus election represents more than just a statistical drop—it signals a fundamental shift in how student democracy must operate under the phone ban. The policy has stripped away the infrastructure that made modern campaigning and voting possible: instant communication, platforms spread through QR codes, and the ability to vote immediately. 

As Stuyvesant approaches its next election cycles for Sophomore, Junior, Senior Caucuses and the Student Union, the school community faces a critical choice. Many students are pushing for the administration and the BOE to implement concrete solutions—extended voting hours, designated phone-use spaces, homeroom voting periods—to ensure student government does not continue to lose legitimacy as fewer voices participate in the democratic process. The Freshman Caucus election serves as both a warning and a testing ground, indicating the need to adapt before low voter turnout becomes a trend.