A record 9,148 students voted in this year's Undergraduate Student Government (USG) election.

"It's been quite an aggressive campaign this year," current USG president Rubina Javeri said. "They've done more inventive things and with a few extra days to campaign, it allowed candidates to spread their message more."

This year's campaigning, which included posters, chants, dancing and T-shirts, also brought more specific strategies.

"For us it wasn't a campaign; it was a project to get the students more empathetic so people would notice us," said Jess Moore (senior-biology, business, German) a supporter of winning candidates Ian Rosenberger and Takkeem Morgan. "We talked to [students] about what our platforms were, but we wanted them to know there were other options."

Kevin Flintosh (freshman-journalism) said campaign reactions weren't all positive.

"I heard a lot of people say it was a little too in your face," Flintosh said.

"I actually overheard some girls that were actually turned off from voting because it was such a competitive day, which is sad but it's sort of understandable."

Regardless of some negative feedback, voting totals were higher than ever, beating last year's total by 1,882 votes.

"I think online voting is really an important thing," Javari said.

"It allows students to vote in residence halls or in their apartment, but at the same time, I think we should have more voting polls in campus for people who don't have computers or who forget about voting."

Last year was the first time all voting took place online.

The only official campus polling center location this year was located in the HUB-Robeson Center.

Steph Wood, election commissioner, announced the vote count to a cheering crowd around 1 a.m.

"I want to apologize for the delay, there was a little problem with the [University Testing Services], but I promise the counts are right," Wood said.

"The high voting turnout is due to many highly visible campaigns and the commission's extensive efforts of publicity."