Staff Editorial | Flawed VSA voting system led to hasty shift to paper

Last week’s Vassar Student Association (VSA) elections broke the norm of the past four years with a return to paper ballots. The change comes one year after last spring’s on-line voting snafu that exposed the flawed system, decreasing confidence in election results and causing a campus-wide re-vote. When VSA was informed that this year’s election software was not reliable, the Council decided to scrap electronic ballots and return to the old method of paper trails.

The return to paper ballots is a welcome change. Paper ballots will ensure a clear trail, without gray areas in cyberspace. But unfortunately, the campus was notified of the switch to paper ballots less than 48 hours before voting was to begin. While the VSA should be commended for making the switch in time to hold elections, the cut-off for testing the electronic voting system should have been earlier.

Regardless of the outcome of this election, VSA should have deemed the on-line system to be unreliable sooner in order to give time to thoroughly publicize the change to paper ballots and to communicate the new voting process. At the time of publication (Wednesday, April 19), numbers were not yet in as to whether voter turnout was up or down in comparison to years past, but this is the most serious concern in a last-minute switch such as this. The VSA should have allotted more time in order to troubleshoot their plan for paper ballots and to be confident about solid voter turnout.

Poor timing plagued this year’s elections even before the voting change occured. Debates for VSA Executive Board positions were scheduled during religious holidays of Easter and Passover, and during the annual delegation of Vassar students to the Model United Nations. Because of these factors, a majority of the candidates could not attend the scheduled debates to discuss issues and answer questions, and attendance dropped to fewer than thirty students. The failure of VSA and the Elections Committee to adequately plan elections marred the experience of the debates; students should have had an opportunity to meet their potential leaders during a time when the campus was
not largely deserted.

We understand that technology can be problematic and cause unforseen issues, and that the VSA was particularly unlucky this year, suffering from hacking. Ultimately, however, the responsibility to run smooth, well-publicized elections falls on the shoulders of the VSA. Problems with on-line voting are not a new campus phenomenon, and the VSA should have anticipated the need for a switch to paper ballots sooner.

The change to paper ballots certainly represents a more responsible choice on the part of the VSA, and it is a system that should be kept and refined in the future. On-line voting has proved unreliable and the calling of re-votes is embarrassing for VSA and detrimental to the voting process. The success of this year’s elections effort will be measured with the coming turnout statistics and elections results.

The 2006-2007 VSA Council should immediately begin work on next year’s voting system. By this time next year, students ought to expect and demand a reliable and efficient system based on paper ballots. There is no longer a reason for excuses.

Staff Editorials represent at least a two-thirds majority opinion of the Editorial Board.