Rebecca McKinsey
Staff Writer
Student Senate's president saw a victory last night with the unanimous passing of a resolution to extend election voting to two days instead of one - and the two candidates contending for his spot next year expressed concerns about its effect.
Starting next year, senate's online elections will remain open from 8 a.m. Wednesday to 7 p.m. Thursday, adding 24 hours to the current election period. President Robert Leary expressed hopes that this change would give more students the opportunity to vote.
I think a lot of people don't wind down in front of their computers until nine at night
so that might be a better time for them to vote than during the day when they're running around Leary said.
To allow time to test the system, the change will not affect this year's May 20 elections, Leary said.
The last thing we want is to have people be able to use (low voter turnout) to illegitimize us Leary said. I think that this will (help increase voter turnout). I've spoken with a lot of students who didn't even know it was election day in the past.
Academic Affairs Commissioner Jesse Neader, who is running for senate president on the SOUND ticket, suggested that keeping the online polls open overnight could result in intoxicated voting.
I think that time would be hard to regulate
Neader said.
Leary said that while this had been considered, technological difficulties could arise from closing the polls Wednesday night and opening them again Thursday morning.
I think that (even) if there is a (technological problem) with the Office of Information Technology (next year)
there will be an increased window of time during which students can vote
Leary said.
The resolution was approved in the seven-member Rules and Procedures Committee after only one dissenting vote - a proxy for City and County Affairs Emily Hanford, said Andrea Blamble, Minority Affairs commissioner and chair of the Rules and Procedures Committee.
Hanford, who is running for student senate president on the Prepared to Engage, Act and Respond ticket, disagreed with the two-day election proposal because of the current length of the campaigning period.
It's our challenge to use those 30 days to get people to vote on that one day
said Hanford, who eventually voted for the resolution. If we can't do that
what's the point?
Hanford said that if election campaigning were to last two weeks rather than 30 days, a two-day voting period would make more sense. Leary said he would support reducing campaigning to two weeks were the issue to arise.
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