In the first 24 hours of voting, 4 percent of Dartmouth alumni cast their votes, while by Friday, 6 percent of alumni had voted in the election, according to the Vox the Vote web site. The elections conclude April 7.
"I think, for one thing, [alumni] haven't had a trustee election in three years," Gaudet said.
Only 2 percent and 1 percent of alumni voted during the first day of the elections in 2008 and 2009, respectively, according to Gaudet.
Neither election included a vote for trustee candidates. The 2008 campaign featured the election of a new slate of candidates to the Association executive board - the "Unity" slate that ended the first alumni lawsuit against the College - while the 2009 vote dealt only with an amendment to the Association constitution.
Voter turnout by day has only being recorded since 2008, according to Gaudet.
Gaudet is a candidate for Association secretary-treasurer for the current "Unity" slate.
Gaudet added that she believes alumni are more involved in the current election because of increased access to candidate information through online media, electronic communications and mailings.
Several Alumni Council members have sent out e-mails to their constituents reminding them to vote in the ongoing elections. The communications, obtained by The Dartmouth, included descriptions of Council-nominated trustee candidates - John Replogle '88 and Morton Kondracke '60 - while also providing information on petition candidate Joe Asch '79, who is opposing Replogle in the race.
"Alumni Councilors typically send communications on their own based on what they feel is important information that they've learned from the College," Council President Janine Avner '80 said. "So they're getting quite a bit of leeway when it comes to getting information out there to their constituents."
One e-mail was sent to alumni of the College and another was sent to alumni of the Tuck School of Business.
The e-mails began with the same paragraph introducing the ongoing voting period and requesting alumni participating in the elections. The second paragraphs of both e-mails include descriptions of the current business affiliations of Replogle and Kondracke, as well as mentioning Asch's "two entrepreneurial businesses."
Both e-mails included the phrase "petition candidate Joseph Asch was the subject of a recent article in the Daily 'D' which is worth a read" before providing a link to the a recent article about Asch's current and former business affiliations ("Asch '79 withheld business past" March 9).
In a response to the e-mail also sent to The Dartmouth, two College alumni, John Leyba '01 and Albert Henning '77 state that including this information, which is one of two references to Asch's candidacy in the original e-mail, is inappropriate.
In his response, Leyba said as a result of the e-mail, he has now decided to vote for Asch.
"I was on the fence before, butyour email has cemented a vote for Joe, on merit and now in protest," Leyba wrote.
Henning, however, said that the e-mail's content did not change his decision to not vote for Asch. He cited the recent article, and Asch's response to it, as a confirming reason why he would not vote for Asch.
"Instead of changing them, this episode reinforces my impressions from my earlier, private interactions with [Asch]," he said. "And I had arrived at this conclusion without aid of Hoyt's email."
Avner said the e-mail provided information on Asch's background.
"It did add to information about Joe Asch and his business experience," Avner said in an interview with The Dartmouth. "So, in that sense, it was information that the alumni could consider when they cast their ballot."
One e-mail was sent by Council-member Hoyt Zia '75, while the other was signed by Danielle Dyer '81 TU '89 and Stephen Bates TU' 74.
Zia declined requests for comment.
This is a breaking news update.
