Members of the Student Government Association believe electronic voting ran smoothly during this spring’s SGA election – despite a glitch. About two-thirds of the university could not vote at the beginning of open voting.

“Students from the College of Humanities and Natural Sciences and the School of Social Sciences were not able to vote in the first couple of hours,” said sociology sophomore Chad Carson, SGA director of technology. “It was corrected after that and everyone was able to vote.”

Moreover, some students may have not felt like they needed to vote because the major candidates ran without competition.

“The percentage of students who voted may be lower because students felt there was not a purpose to vote. It discouraged students that both the president and vice president positions were running unopposed,” said Antoinette Spillers, commissioner of elections and political science senior.

Other students preferred the electronic voting because it was easily accessible, especially since it allowed students to vote from home.

“The electronic elections were so much more convenient,” Heather Miranne, mass communication sophomore, said. “I didn’t vote last year because of the inconvenience.”

“Since it was on Blackboard, I didn’t have to walk to the Danna Center to vote,” Ike Butler, history sophomore, said.

Electronic voting also made results available instantly.

“Blackboard made the election process simple. The only thing I was constantly checking were the number of students who were voting,” Spillers said. “I think we will stick with the Blackboard system because it is very efficient.”

“Electronic voting is here to stay,” Carson said.

Lee Hudson can be reached at [email protected].