Story County residents supported the Ames School District bond issue with a “yes” vote of a nearly 2-to-1 margin. However, only a fraction of those voters were ISU students.

After the polls closed at 9 p.m. Tuesday, 63.8 percent of voters cast in favor of the bond issue, with 36.2 percent opposed.

Mayor Ted Tedesco congratulated those who supported the bond issue.

“This is good news for the Ames School District,” he said.

More than 4,000 eligible voters participated in the election, but few of those were ISU students. The three available polling locations on campus — Memorial Lutheran Church, 2228 Lincoln Way; the Maple-Willow-Larch Hall commons; and the Friley Hall depot — remained largely empty throughout the day. Only 11 students had shown up to the MWL commons to vote by 6:30 p.m., said vote poller Pat Bensen. A few students showed up to register to vote, but not specifically for this election, she said.

“There are many reasons for a lack of student vote turnout,” Bensen said. “First, they don’t know enough about the [school bond] issues to have an informed opinion. Second, many students aren’t registered to vote in Story County. Out of the handful of students who showed up, a few of them were former Ames High students.”

Debra Andrew, vote poller, said some auditors estimated as many as 10 to 20 percent of ISU students would vote in the bond issue. “We didn’t even have anyone show up until an hour after the polls opened,” Andrew said. “Turnout is bad here, but even fewer students showed up at the Memorial Lutheran church polling place. Sometimes in non-presidential elections we only have two people show up the entire day.”

Despite the low turnout, Dan Rajewski, sophomore in meteorology, enthusiastically cast his vote in for the bond issue.

“Those who are eligible to vote should respond to issues that pertain to their jurisdiction, such as this school bond issue,” Rajewski said. “Even though it was a minor issue, and a little bit confusing, its our responsibility to vote. Besides, it helps us stay in the habit of being responsible voters, even if its for minuscule issues like the bond issue.”