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1Card, voter errors cause problems on Wednesday

Cougar News Staff

Although more than 1,000 votes were reportedly cast during the first day of the Student Government Association general election Wednesday, several students reported having problems voting online.

Among the problems were Cougar 1Card numbers that weren't accepted by the online voting system. Students must use the 16-digit number from their active 1Cards, which may be red identification cards or the newer black debit cards.

"My suggestion is that they try both cards if they don't know which one is activated," said Bruce Twenhafel, assistant director of Campus Activities.

In cases in which a 1Card does not work, students should visit the 1Card office, Room 279, University Center to try to resolve the problem. Twenhafel said some students found out they were not enrolled this semester when they tried to use their cards, making them ineligible to vote.

Students also reported problems with the mechanics of the online voting process. Some did not enter the case-sensitive passwords randomly generated for each voting session correctly, others neglected to complete their voting session by clicking the "submit" button, and some pressed their Internet browsers' "back" buttons, invalidating their voting sessions.

"Do not hit the back arrow," Twenhafel said. "It's a student error, so there's nothing we can do about that."

Twenhafel said such errors probably accounted for many voting sessions during which students logged into the voting system but did not cast votes.

Voting continues from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. today. Students may vote at any of five locations on campus -- the UC, the UC Satellite, the Moody Towers, the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center and the Social Work Building -- or from any computer by logging on to www.studentelection. uh.edu.

Election results are scheduled to be announced at noon Friday in the UC Underground's World Affairs Lounge.
 

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