Voting continues despite hurdles
As day three of voting in this year’s student body elections begins today, voter turnout is expected to increase as the ERC works to improve polling operations.
Online voting faced several glitches this week, and though the voting website still faces some issues, SG Supervisor of Elections John Quiroz said IT is aware of the problems and working to resolve them.
One of the larger issues resolved was the computer error, which Quiroz attributed to communications with the network operating the voting system, which prevented students in the College of The Arts from voting. Quiroz said the problem was resolved as of Tuesday morning.
As of late Tuesday evening, the voting link, sg.usf.edu/vote, still had the banner that read “Spring 2014 Election Documents” and the only button to vote read “Proceed to eBallot” with last year’s date listed.
The other major issue for voter turnout, lasting several days, was the weather.
Quiroz said Tuesday’s windy morning and afternoon showers destroyed one SG tent, and prompted three polling locations to close as the day went on.
“Rain is delaying the vote counts,” he said. “Its not going to be what I expected, when my goal was 6,000 to 7,000 voters, but right now we’re getting close to half of that goal despite the weather.”
To further increase voter turnout, Quiroz said the SG Executive branch donated left over OUR shirts, and the Election Rules Committee purchased 1,000 more from the bookstore to give out to students who vote.
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