Allegations that a faulty election system may have skewed the vote in favor of the More party circulated among many of those who lost after the student government election results were announced Thursday.
According to election rules, students were allowed to vote for no more than 18 candidates for the senators at large position. But the Tiger Zone online voting system did not limit voters and may have accepted more votes than allowed.
Ashley Courtney, a political science junior and third year senator, said she was among those who questioned the election results.
“We complained to the election commissioner about the problem,†Courtney, who lost her senate seat, said. “They told us there was nothing they could do about the problem, and that everyone was on the honor system. I think it gave the More Party an advantage.â€
Courtney said anyone could have taken advantage of the ability to vote for more than 18 candidates, but that no one in her party did.
Hailey Coleman, election commissioner, said there was a “system problem†that allowed students to vote for more than 18 candidates for senators at large. However, she said it did not affect the election results.
“That was a flaw in the Tiger Zone system,†she said. “People could go into the election and pick more than 18 senators. But it said at the top of the screen, ‘pick 18.’ I don’t think that students voted for more than just 18 people.â€
Coleman said that while she was available at any time to answer any concerns, she only heard one complaint about the voting problem.
“I totally understand that people are concerned about this issue, especially when there are hurt feelings,†Coleman said. “What I’m saying isn’t coming from a place of hate or not understanding. If they are still concerned about it, they can take the time and do the math themselves.â€
Dean of Students Justin Lawhead said he was not aware of the issue, but said that it was something that SGA and his office could look into.
“I’d have to evaluate that with the election commission,†Lawhead said. “I do know we had the highest voter turnout in quite sometime. But we can always evaluate the process and look to improve.â€
Lawhead said that the voting system is tied into the Tiger Zone and is better than past voting systems.
“I’ll ask the commission to evaluate the data and we can go from there,†he said.
