The St. Thomas University Student Union (STUSU) ratified a vote to allow online voting at a council meeting on Sept. 12.
STUSU president, Elizabeth Murphy, said the union voted to approve it last January but wanted to discuss it with the new council.
Online voting at STU will be used in both fall and spring elections this year. Murphy said there are a lot of benefits to online voting.
“We’re hoping it will increase voter turnout,” Murphy said. “But we’ll also get the results faster and be able to watch updates in real time.
“It’s convienient for students, too. And since it’s on computers there’s no way someone might make a mistake.”
The administration is uneasy about student’s thoughts on the idea, but is willing for a trial run. If there is no strong opposition to the changes and students understand it, then online voting will be implemented.
The main issue administration is worried about is the security of the online system. The program requires student information before allowing any vote to proceed. This information would consist of a list of voter’s names and student IDs. After the voting, this information would then be deleted by the company. STU administration wants the student population to be aware of this and agree to it before online voting is allowed.
STUSU plans to promote awareness and benefits of the online voting process before the fall election. The voting website, simplyvoting.com, would let students register and vote online through school computers, laptops and mobile devices. Simplyvoting also allows for a conventional ballot vote as well as an automated telephone system to supplement the online voting.
Simplyvoting is not a free system and would cost about $900 for STU.
STUSU hasn’t yet proposed the budget for running elections or the educational campaign to raise awareness for the voting system.
