2012 BUSU elections offer online voting option

For the upcoming BUSU elections that will be taking place from Feb. 14 to  16, Undergraduate students will have the convenient option of voting online through their Brock E-mail accounts, as well as at the traditional polling stations.

By adding this new feature to the elections, members of the Brock University Students' Union (BUSU) hope that it will help to raise the voter turn out rate, which has been very low in previous years.

"Only about 16 per cent of students voted in last year's elections," said BUSU Chief Returning Officer, Bryan Levesque. "But with the online voting option, we expect that number to increase."

Levesque went on to say that he has already experienced some success with the online voting option. In the recent by-elections that took place in Oct. 2011, there were over 300 ballots cast – a reasonable improvement compared to the previous year's totals of only 50.

Students can vote at any time of the day and the process is very simple. However, this simplicity may be the initiative's downfall.

With the addition of online voting, some questions have been raised over the security and neutrality of the election.

BUSU Deputy Returning Officer Bailey Briscoe assures that the online voting system is secure and fair.

"Students will have to access the voting through their E-mail accounts," she said. "The E-mail will be sent directly through BUSU and will contain a link that will take [voters] to the Web site to cast their votes."

The voting Web site will also include pictures of each candidate and a brief synopsis of their platform. The order of the names on the ballot will appear in a randomized order, to  further ensure fairness amongst the executive candidates.

The online voting Web site is being run by BigPulse.com, a company that has hosted many students elections from various schools all over North America.

"There is also an option to comment on the Web site," said Levesque. "Students can give us their feedback on this new service."

The online ballots with be available as of midnight on Feb. 14 and will close at 9:00 p.m. on Feb. 16. During this time, Undergraduate students should check their Brock E-mail accounts for a message with the subject heading, "BUSU Election Ballot". This E-mail will contain the link for students to cast their ballots.

For more information on the elections. Go to busu.net/elections.