Nicholls has experimented with online voting for University election issues, and some officials are wondering if this method is the way to go.
According to Jana Stewart, Student Government Association vice president, when comparing the voting percentages from the spring 2002 ballot election to the first online election, voting percentages only decreased by about 50 to 100 voters in the new online election.
“They (the voting percentages) were very comparable,” Stewart said. “The number of voters was nearly the exact same number as it was two years ago.”
A new election commission, that has yet to be elected, will be the new governing body concerning University online voting. The commission will be the deciding factor in determining whether future elections will use the online voting method and whether all voting practices are following the election code.
“I’m sure they’ll (the election commission) continue using the system. That’s what it’s there for,” Stewart said. “It’s definitely the executive administration’s wishes to keep using it.”
When online voting first took place, the election code did not have specific guidelines that dealt with online voting issues. A draft, which will soon be presented to the Student Senate for approval, has been constructed to now include guidelines concerning both online voting as well as ballot election procedures.
Some students on campus think that the online elections are beneficial for college students.
“I live on the Internet, so voting online is something that I’m in favor of,” Shaun Felger, music senior from Houma, said. “Even though going to a voting booth does not take up much time, I think that more people should vote if all they have to do is click the computer mouse a few times.”
Other students, however, think that online voting is not necessarily an advantage to the voting procedure.
“I don’t think voting online is very effective,” Katie Calhoun, art sophomore from Houma, said. “Once I leave campus, Nicholls is the last thing on my mind, and I would easily forget to go to the Nicholls (website) to vote.”
One issue that many students blame for the lack of voter turnout is the process of obtaining a student’s PIN, an item needed for online voting. Right now students can obtain their PINs from the office of records and registration, their academic advisers and from the student government office only during election time.
“It (a pin number) can’t be too easily accessible or it loses its purpose,” Stewart said. “We use it for our finances. We pay our bills over the Internet with it. It has to be a secret number. It just won’t work if we give it out everywhere. I’d love to make it more easily accessible to students, but there’s really no way of doing that.”
Online voting is one of the many changes occurring on campus, and it is unknown if this new change will become permanent on campus.
“I definitely think online voting is for the better,” Stewart said. “I think the election code was not in line with online voting. It was not as new as the voting procedure, but now that the election code is being updated, I think it will run a lot more smoothly.