Originally Posted by sew12

13% is a horrible turnout, just last year the turn out was 22% which is almost double.

As for online voting I would be curious to know how the voting process has to be changed? Does there need to be a referendum? Who is in charge of deciding how elections are run and ballots are cast?

Great question! When (please note I didn't say 'if') the MSU switches over there is a process that needs to be followed to adopt a new system, which I will outline.

Step One - The SRA Operations Committee alongside the Elections Committee researches and investigates possibly technologies for E-Voting. The Operations Committee (which I happen to chair actually) is in charge of finding new technologies and infrastructure and deciding how to best implement them. In the case of E-Voting we're looking at intranet voting vs internet voting as an example of implementation.

Intranet Voting (Computers connected via a secure internal server)
Pros

- More secure than internet voting
- Independent voting consoles so that people can't walk into a library and force people at computer terminals to vote
- We would still need poll clerks, so student jobs would remain untouched

Cons
- Expensive, the computers will cost money, lots of it, along with the software
- Smaller reach than internet voting

Internet Voting

Pros
- Wide reach for voters
- Inexpensive in relative terms

Cons
- We'll lose student jobs
- Relatively insecure against hackers and voter intimidation

Step Two - The Information Systems Committee would review the research into the tech aspect of things and make a recommendation for the purchase of specific equipment and software models. They would gather quotes and rates for the work. Once they do this they'll pass the recommendation on to the SRA (or Executive Board, depending on the cost) for the purchase of the equipment or software

Step Three

The SRA or Executive Board will then allocate and expend the money needed, and depending on the amount the allocation and expenditure could take up to a month's time to complete.

Step Four

The Network Administrator and the Network Assistant will then implement the system and test it out. After they do this, a small election (such as FYC Generals or SRA October by-elections. If all goes well, it would then be made ready for the presidentials. There is also the possibility of the MSU leasing or lending the technology for faculty societies and other on campus groups who run elections.

So there you have it, the process of implementing E-Voting for MSU elections in complete (unless I've missed a step, which is entirely possible). If you have anymore questions please ask, E-Voting has been an interest of mine in the MSU for well over a year now.

- Andrew

Originally Posted by sew12

As for online voting I would be curious to know how the voting process has to be changed? Does there need to be a referendum? Who is in charge of deciding how elections are run and ballots are cast?

Moving from paper to electronic would require some revision to the MSU's bylaw governing elections, but that is easily done by the SRA. The greater challenge is getting an electronic system that (a) works, and (b) is secure. I note that the University Secretariat, which now uses electronic voting for some of its elections, has had trouble with electronic in the past.

I'm not convinced on-line voting is the answer, though investigating the logistics certainly has merit. The greater question is why did the percentage voter turnout drop from 22% to 13% in one year? I can recall when it was in the range of 35-40% year after year.

Perhaps declining voter turnout is a function of the broader cynicism in society relating to elected officials. If that's the case, it's especially disappointing in a university setting.

Thank you very much for the detailed response Kaeso.

As for such a massive drop from 13% to 22% I would guess that there are one or two reasons for this. Perhaps this years first years are particularly apathetic about student politics and/or upper years were deterred from voting based on what happened with the election last year. Cynicism of course also being a factor.

Hi guys. If you want to discuss voter turnout / apathy / electronic voting, then discuss it in the MSU Presidential threads. Your discussion is off-topic for this thread.

Originally Posted by lorend

I find your comment very interesting.

3/4 executives on MacInsiders either work/volunteer for an MSU service or are on SRA.

Furthermore, a lot of the student body is involved -- just not in MSU politics. For example, there are approximately 1000 Welcome Week reps every year. Being involved in school life doesn't mean they have to be involved in school politics.

Don't get me wrong, I think the MSU is an excellent provider of volunteer and job opportunities and hosts a lot of events that are beneficial to all students.

However, my point is that when it comes to choosing leadership for the MSU, I think there is a lack of that same enthusiasm and interest. Having a "well-oiled" machine is 50% of the bargain, the other 50% is having the appropriate people to run it (worst analogy ever). The MSU needs its executive leadership to be put to the test in order to truly attest to what these leaders can bring to the table.


I love that we can be so involved in everything else, but there needs to be more activity in the MSU (members and leaders alike) to inspire and challenge each other and bring back the days of discussion and involvement. Politics doesn't need to have such a negative stigma attached to it. The drama was left in high school. I think we've got a pretty great platform for leadership, but that platform shouldn't be put to waste.

High hopes for the 2010 Election!

Originally Posted by Chad

Hi guys. If you want to discuss voter turnout / apathy / electronic voting, then discuss it in the MSU Presidential threads. Your discussion is off-topic for this thread.

Hey, why not make another sub forum about it. This website isn't quite difficult enough to navigate, I think.

Originally Posted by kokosemara

Hey, why not make another sub forum about it. This website isn't quite difficult enough to navigate, I think.

I don't see how the site is all that difficult to navigate but if you have concerns or suggestions we'd gladly take them, without the attitude.

Originally Posted by kokosas

I don't see how the site is all that difficult to navigate but if you have concerns or suggestions we'd gladly take them, without the attitude.

http://www.macinsiders.com/forumdisplay.php?f=21
Too many sub forums.

http://www.macinsiders.com/forumdisplay.php?f=23
http://www.macinsiders.com/forumdisplay.php?f=2
The sub forums have too many sub forums.

http://www.macinsiders.com/forumdisplay.php?f=88
This particular forum is hard to find, not on this list, http://www.macinsiders.com/forumdisplay.php?f=21 , or under the "Forums" button on the toolbar.

Too much junk on the toolbar. Reviews, videos, photos, marketplace, arcade.

Generally too much shit going on on the front page. Too much overlapping information, clutter, buttons.

A website of this size could essentially have one subforum, "general discussion", and it would function well.

We'll take your suggestions into consideration.

I find that the subforums actually help organize things. It's kind of like having shelves in a cupboard...

If you just had one "general discussion", I think it would be much harder to locate threads, since a bunch of unrelated threads would be mixed together.

Sorry this is also getting off the topic of the thread.

The purpose of categories of forums is to organize things. If everything was under 'general discussion' it would be just a huge pool of random discussions and it would be very difficult to find anything you're looking for. Forums and subforums act as folders and make it easier to find groupings of discussions on a certain topic.

I will add the Presidential Discussions as one of the choices under the forums menu.

As for the other items in the navigation, they are all parts of the site. What do you suggest we remove from the navigation? What if someone wants to view marketplace to post an ad, or the reviews section to read about a restaurant? Taking that link away would make it even more difficult to find...