Starting today, UC Berkeley students can begin casting their votes on elected representatives and referendums in the annual ASUC election.
Students can vote online via CalLink starting at 12:01 a.m. on Monday, April 13 or vote in-person at polling stations around campus from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The voting period ends Wednesday, April 15 at 11:59 p.m.
The senatorial and executive elections will operate on ranked-choice voting, in which students can list candidates in order of preference.
Twenty-seven senatorial candidates will appear on the ballot, and the 20 candidates who receive the most votes will become ASUC senators for the 2026-27 academic year. The senate controls the ASUC’s $12 million budget and individual senators have campaigned on a wide range of platforms targeted toward students’ experiences on campus.
Candidates running for five executive positions, along with transfer student representative, will be on the ballot. Two of the positions, student advocate and academic affairs vice president, are uncontested elections. Candidates for the four contested positions participated in a debate hosted by The Daily Californian on Friday evening.
In addition to the senatorial and executive candidates, three referendums will be listed on the undergraduate ballot: the Save Free Student Press initiative, which will increase the semesterly fee that financially supports the Daily Cal from $6.50 to $8.50 beginning in the 2028-29 school year; the STRONG Act, which promotes the transfer student representative role to the ASUC’s executive branch for the 2027-28 term; and a proposition that, if passed, would call for campus to divest from companies producing military technology.
An additional fourth referendum is on the graduate student ballot about increasing the semesterly Graduate Assembly Fee by $10.
Currently, undergraduate students pay $33.50 in ASUC student fees during the school year, with $27.50 going to the ASUC directly.Graduate students pay $33 to the Graduate Assembly each semester during the school year.
Fee referendums, such as the Save Free Student Press initiative and the GA Fee 2.0, will increase the cost paid by each student.The ASUC and GA fees are part of the Berkeley Campus Fee for which students are billed on CalCentral, and can be covered by a student’s financial aid.
In order for a referendum to pass, a total of 20% of undergraduate and graduate students on campus must vote without abstaining, and a majority of votes must be yes.
Last year’s ASUC election turnout was the second highest it had been in seven years. According to the ASUC’s bylaws, the ASUC Elections Council can create incentives to bolster voter turnout.
Bylaw “ASUCBL 4103: Voting” states that 10% discounts to the Cal Student Store have historically been offered as an incentive to students who vote “when the ASUC directly controlled the store.” However, starting Jan. 20, Barnes & Noble College now manages operations for the Cal Student Store.
Ballots will be tallied at a tabulations ceremony Friday, April 17. The date and time of the ceremony are yet to be announced.