Opinion
 

Chips, salsa win over SGA vote

Shaun Salnave
Opinion Columnist

Following the sound principles of democracy that have made this country what it is today, I attempted to vote today in the Student Government Association's elections.

I'll even admit that it was mostly on principle that I did so: I'm not particularly interested in most of the races, since most of them aren't actually races, lacking as they do the vital ingredient -- a second candidate -- that would make them so. However, I am interested in the presidential race, since I have definite opinions about the job Dawona Miller has done as SGA president.

As for the rest, I decided to live by the axiom that the person who does not care enough to vote should not complain. As an opinion columnist, I'm pretty much required to complain, so I walked twenty or so steps to the nearest polling place at the UC Satellite.

That's where the first problem came up. In previous years, the voting booth has been near the main door, where students could ignore it only after nearly tripping over the poll workers. There was no danger of tripping this year.

Without the assistance of Jim "the Bob Fosse of the Third Ward" McCormick, I would have left the Satellite without ever seeing the voting station, which was in a corner between the games area and the bare-shelved convenience store.

Not a single sign was in evidence indicating that this was where I might help decide the future of student government on our campus; only a card reader on the table next to an iBook indicated anything was going on other than two students sitting behind a table.

I was slightly worried, having read Thursday that students' cards not being activated had caused technical problems, but when my card went through the reader, I thought I was well on my way to rocking the vote. But, as you might have guessed, something went wrong -- why else, after all, would I be writing this column?

I typed in my Cougar 1Card and Social Security numbers and clicked the button to log in. I got an error, so I double-checked that I'd entered the numbers correctly. I had. I tried to log in again, and got the same error. At that point, I asked the poll worker for some assistance, and he checked my number as well. It was right, but I still couldn't log in.

The poll worker picked up his radio and called to get some assistance, but got no answer, so I went into the sad excuse for a convenience store and bought some chips and salsa for $7.77.

When I came back out, he said he was still getting no answer and suggested I go to the Cougar 1Card office. Unfortunately, by that time I'd spent about half an hour trying to vote, and had to return to work.

So, if anyone from the election commission is reading this, I'd like a chance to vote again. You can e-mail me at the address below and I'll tell you for whom I'd like to vote. In the meantime, count this as one vote against the new system.

Salnave, a senior English and history 
major, can be reached at ssalnave@uh.edu.