With district elections, a runoff is required when a candidate does not receive 50 percent of the votes. When necessary, runoffs would take place 28 days after the initial election. T. Except for 1987, there has been a runoff every election. Voter turnout has dropped from approximately 55 percent during the initial election to approximately 30 percent during the runoff. Because runoffs would be held in mid-December, much of the student vote is lost because students are busy completing finals or have already gone home for the holidays.
Every time there is more than two candidates there has been a runoff.
Daniel Wirls, UCSC Politics professor and West Side resident thinks runoffs could be detrimental to the election process. People barely turnout for a major election, let alone a runoff. There are only so many times that you can drag them back to the voting booth. The housing situation in Santa Cruz might add to UCSC student disempowerment as voters because students typically move every year. Students do not necessarily move only within one district, nor do they have many options regarding where they move due to the low availability of housing.