Online Polls Now Open for CSU By-Elections

Union Wants Student Support For Online Voting and Fee-Levy Restructuring

NewsAlexander Perez — Published January 15, 2019

Polls were open as of 9 a.m. this morning and undergraduate students eligible to vote should receive an Elector ID and password through email. Once students receive their ID and password they will be able to access the ballot through SimplyVoting to vote on candidates and referendum questions.

Voting will end this Thursday at 8:30 p.m.

Related Articles:

• CSU January By-Election to Run Online

• CSU IT Director Says Risks Involved With Online Voting Are Being Overlooked

Referendum Questions

Online Voting:

The CSU is asking for student support to permanently move to an online platform for their voting system.

In December the Chair of the CSU’s elections and participation committee Patrick Quinn, said that moving to an online platform is financially beneficial, since running polling stations on campus is costly.

“We spend around $12,000 and $15,000 per election on security, so that can amount to $24,000 to $30,000 on security per year,” said Quinn. “With a company like Simply Voting, they offer plans for a certain amount of elections per year that can range between $6,000 and $10,000. So right there you’re saving between $14,000 and $20,000.”

The group of CSU councillors pushing for online voting also say a new system will make elections more accessible for students and keep ballots more secure.

Fee-levy Restructuring:

In November the CSU revealed that they’ve incurred a deficit over $200,000. To rectify the issue, the CSU is recommending a restructuring of their fee-levy.

John Hutton told The Link the union is looking to decrease their Student Space, Accessible Education, and Legal Contingency Fund levy from $0.75 per credit to $0.39. Reducing the levy for the SSAELC fund will allow the levy for advocacy, clubs and operations to be increased to an equal amount.

For more information on the fee-levy restructuring, read here.