Opinion
 

Staff Editorial

                            Matt Dulin    Barrett Goldsmith    Zach Lee 
                Jim Parsons            Christian Schmidt           Blake Whitaker

Vox populi

It was an election of firsts.

It was the first to feature completely Web-based voting.

It was the first to usher in a non-Student Voice president and Senate in four years.

It was the first election to draw nearly 3,000 students to the polls in at least 10 years.

It will be remembered as the election that ushered in a new political party, UH 4 U, led by Jon Quintanilla, who built his UH political career around the Student Voice ticket. In many ways his departure fractured the party's support base -- evidenced by the number of voters backing his name and by the election of a Senate dominated by UH 4 U members to Student Voice by nearly 2-1. Quintanilla will face the challenge of getting both parties to work together when he takes office April 1.

Speaking of the turnout alone, it was a successful election, especially if one recalls last year's, marked by less than 600 student voters and only a handful of contests.

It's hard to say if the Web-based polling platform is a good idea. For one, it is doubtful it attracted more voters, as its proponents said it would. We think increased interest and competition boosted turnout, not the online voting, which opened up numerous loopholes in the Election Code, which were exploited by UH 4 U and Student Voice candidates alike. 

It would be wise for the next administration to examine this election and evaluate its impact on participation and how an election should be run. Online voting in its current form presents several setbacks, such as the lack of write-in candidates, that make the process unfair to some degree.

We owe the Election Commission gratitude for facilitating the election. Its been one of the most hectic elections in recent memory. It addressed about a dozen complaints, some of which have yet to be resolved, with a fair hand. The post-election report will make for some interesting reading.