2008 Woodie Awards
Elections show increased voter turn-out
Seven class positions left empty
Zack Farmer & Melissa Vlach
Issue date: 5/1/07 Section: News
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Tera Gallegos '08 was not able to vote because she is a senior by credit.
"When I clicked on the ballot, it took me to a page that said, 'You have entered the wrong ballot,'" Gallegos said. "So, I was not able to vote."
Gallegos, who is abroad this semester in Australia, e-mailed Associated Students of Saint Mary's College (ASSMC) President Shane Keane to inform him of the situation but Gallegos was still unable to vote. She has voted for the class of 2007 for her first two spring elections but will not be graduating until the spring of 2008.
"I feel that my status as a senior has not allowed me to voice my opinion for our class. It's annoying because I did not even get to see who the candidates were," said Gallegos. "I don't think I could have done anything to prevent this, but I'm sure ASSMC could set up a process for students with higher standing to vote."
"When I went to vote, I was only given the opportunity to vote for the class of 2009," said Elizabeth Patterson '10. Patterson, in her first year at Saint Mary's, attempted to vote for the class of 2010 but could not because she is a sophomore by credit.
Patterson thought ASSMC should inform students ahead of time about the elections and candidates. "[ASSMC] could have let me know a few weeks ahead of time," Patterson said. "You can be a more informed voter."
Many students tried to vote late on Wednesday and if a problem occurred the office of Student Involvement & Leadership (SIL) is open until 4:30 p.m. whereas the election ended at 5 p.m.
Despite the technical issues, about 600 students voted in this election, which is much less than half of those eligible to vote, although it was higher than previous years.
"This number is slightly up from the past few years, at least where we've averaged around 400-500 votes per election," said Legacy Lee, coordinator of SIL.
Despite this improvement, Lee still feels that the numbers are inadequate.
Lee believes that student support will force the candidates to improve their campaigns. "If we're going to have our candidates speaking somewhere, we need students to come listen," he said. "Right now they're kind of playing down to the constituents."