Roughly 19 percent of eligible faculty voted Tuesday for seats on university committees.

Senate Elections Committee Chair Reed Benedict said this was “not necessarily low for the first day of election.”

Approximately 80 out of 432 faculty voted in the elections which has highly contested seats in Faculty Senate and the Council on Academic Affairs. There are also contested seats on the Council on Graduate Studies, the Council on Teacher Education, the Admissions Appeal Review Committee and the Enrollment Management Advisory Committee, Benedict, associate sociology professor, said.

However, Benedict did say the 19 percent turnout for the first day of voting “may be a little low, but we expect a better turnout (Wednesday).”

Benedict said the snow and ice storm that swept through Charleston Tuesday morning and Monday night may have kept some faculty from voting on the first day when turnout is “always a little lower.”

In addition, he said often times the second election day sees a higher turnout because the faculty that already voted will go tell their colleagues to vote.

“These are very important positions, and we need qualified individuals to run,” Benedict said. “I’ve seen three to five votes decide the winners.”

Last years election, according to senate minutes from April 17, 2001, had 253 cast votes.

Voting booths will be open again from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Wednesday in front of the bookstore in the Martin Luther King, Jr. University Union.