Few voters showed up on May 19 to decide on six state propositions that directly affect California’s budget crisis.

By 9 a.m. on Election Day, 29 percent of voters filled out their ballots, according to Santa Clara County Registrar spokeswoman Elma Rosas.

She confirmed that the county sent out 543,000 ballots. They received about 158,000 back.

“I didn’t vote because I was not interested. I am from Turkey and I don’t really understand English since I’m an ESL student,” said Mehmet Demirpence, who is studying medicine.

Proposition 1B, a measure on the May 19 ballot, proposed allocating $9.3 billion to state K-12 schools and community colleges. Voters rejected the proposition by 62.6 percent.

Many college students have demanding schedules, juggling work with a full load of classes. Voting may not necessarily be on their to-do list. “I have a lot of classes, I’m too busy,” said communications major Rania Mardini.

“I didn’t vote because it’s a waste of time, I didn’t really care and I have classes back-to-back, plus work,” said graphic design major Luis Garcia. Engineering major Jessica Manzo said she felt she was not sufficiently informed. “There was inadequate media coverage,” she said. “I did not vote for that reason.”

Industrial design major Max Ruiz felt the same. “There was insufficient accessible information about the propositions,” he said.

“Students need to recognize that their lives will be severely impacted by what is going on right now in the state and in the economy,” said Stockwell.

He suggested that the current budget crisis might “bring home the importance of politics to a broader range of students.”

“Politics is about the struggle over resources, values and goals,” said Stockwell. “The budget fight is an excellent example. All of us need to study up and get involved.”

Political science instructor Robert Stockwell said it is crucial that students understand the impact that they can have by “simply bubbling out a ballot.”