A higher number of students voted in the University of Wisconsin student government elections than had been projected for the spring races, with a total 11.4 percent of the student body casting their votes.

Student Election Commission Chair Mickey Stevens said the 11.4 percent turnout represented a good turnout this spring, with 4,573 completed ballots out of the 40,238 total student enrollment for the semester. UW students cast online ballots for Associated Students of Madison candidates vying for open seats on Student Council, Student Services Finance Committee seats and senior class officers.

“The 11.4 percent was actually fairly surprising in my opinion,” Stevens said. “We were expecting 9 or 10 percent, so I was fairly happy with that.”

Stevens said commission members had expected a lower turnout because there was no referendum on the ballot for the first time in several years. He added although last year’s turnout was roughly 15 percent, when compared to similar elections without a referendum on the ballot, this year’s turnout ranked “very well.”

The last time a similar election was held, when the only referendum on the ballot was a United Council of UW Students referendum, was held in 2009. The 2009 election received a total of 8.8 percent in voter turnout, with 3,496 completed ballots.

Several of the races were also decided by extremely close margins, with the School of Education student council seat going to UW senior Chris Spears by nine votes and the School of Business seat going to Yonas Zewdie, a junior, by four votes.

The highest vote earners went to College of Letters & Science candidates, with the top seven candidates each receiving more than 1,000 votes. UW freshman Devon Maier scored the most votes of any candidate with 1,151.