Moving forward with technology and getting more students involved, the Student Government Association at Nicholls State will begin to offer online voting accessible from any computer for the next election.
Traditional voting on ballots will become non-existent. Instead, there will be one or two computers where the old voting booths used to be located in the Student Union. The voting website will also be available from any computer on or off campus. One can access the website from the comfort of their own home, or when they have free time.
“I know that it will help more people to vote. There are a lot of non-traditional students that have families to tend to and do not have any time to vote in the Union. The students that attend the Allied Health in Houma will be able to vote too,” Jana Stewart, SGA vice president, said.
Other colleges in the state already have online voting and their results show a 10 to 15 percent increase in student voting. Allowing more time to get votes in, the SGA has decided to extend the voting period four days.
To locate the online ballot, go to www.Nicholls.edu. When the voting process begins, there will be a link posted at this website. After students click on the link, a new screen will show and ask for students to enter their social security number and student pin number.
Each student will be allowed to cast his or her vote only one time. To take part in an election, students must have their social security number and their student pin number. Students can obtain their student pin number by going to Records and Registration and providing them with a picture ID. Students can also find their student pin number by going to their academic advisor, or from the SGA office, located in the Student Union.
Once a student types those two numbers in, votes and clicks on submit, they are logged out of the system. This will prevent students from trying to vote more than one time.
In the past, once voting was finished it took hours to count and recount votes. Though results will not be revealed on the screen as each vote is logged in, the results will be instantly tallied and posted soon after voting is completed.
Not only will students be able to vote in the Union and from the comfort of their own homes, but also voting will be available in the Wac Lab. To access computers in the lab, students usually have to enter a user name and a login name. But if a student uses a Macintosh computer, the only thing they need to type in is their user name and a student pin number.
“I feel that online voting gives students more opportunities to voice their opinions on subject matters. Many students do not have time to walk across campus and vote in a booth in the Union,” Ashley Billiot, freshman from Houma, said.
The creator of online voting at Nicholls is former SGA vice president, Shenee Gros. She thought of this proposal and did the research necessary to finish with this plan successfully. With the technological assistance of Tom Bonvillian and his staff, current vice president Jana Stewart took this project over and continued putting it together in the spring of 2003.
The SGA urges all Nicholls students to obtain their personal pin number and take part in the first election as soon as voting opens.