The Student Government Association will hold elections Oct. 13 – 16 online for students to select the members of the homecoming court, choose the king and queen and to accept or decline two SGA amendments.
The SGA student senate encourages full-time students to obtain their pin number. These numbers are available from advisors, the SGA office in the Student Union or from Records and Registration by providing a photo ID.
Students can vote from their own homes in their free time, or they can vote in the WAC lab or from any computer with Internet access. Voting will be available 24 hours a day from Monday at midnight through Thursday at 11:59 p.m. The results will be available immediately after the polls are closed, and the results will be released next Friday.
The first amendment will be on the creation of an Election Commission. This commission would consist of five members, four being executive board members of the SGA and Student Programming Association, and the chair being selected by the presidents of both organizations. The Election Commission would administer, operate, enforce and direct all campus student elections by the guidelines of the SGA Election Code. If passed, the powers and duties concerning elections that were once the responsibility of the Judicial Board would be entrusted to the Election Commission.
This commission is meant to eliminate the potential of the Judicial Board’s being biased to the rulings they make when dealing with student complaints on election procedures. If passed, the Judicial Board would oversee the work of the Election Commission.
The second amendment is to reduce the hours required to serve on the SGA executive board. The SGA student senate would like to change the minimum number of enrollment hours from nine to seven, or if a student is taking fewer than seven hours, they may still be eligible but will have to pay self-assessed fees
This amendment, if passed, will allow non-traditional or graduate students to run for positions on the SGA executive board. This amendment may allow some consistency among the SGA judicial board, senate and executive board.
The last item is nominations for homecoming court. To be eligible for the court, nominated students must have a 2.0 GPA, be a full-time student and of junior or senior standing and must not have been a previous court member. There will be 27 women and 17 men from different organizations and groups on campus up for the seven spots of the court. There will be a picture and name of each nominee shown on the computer when a student votes.
The election to choose the King and Queen will be Oct. 20 – 23, following the same voting procedures.
“I’ve had a few nominees for homecoming court come to me with concerns that students will not vote. All nominees should not worry, and can visit the SGA office to get handbills to distribute to students. This will not only promote themselves but it will also promote the online voting,” Jana Stewart, SGA vice president, said.
Some students are planning on taking the necessary actions to have their voice heard in the up coming elections.
“I will vote, and I think everyone should vote too because everybody complains about what goes on at Nicholls, but they never try to do anything about it,” Kylie Allemand, secondary education junior from Lockport, said.