LOG ON AND VOTE

The issue: Voter turnout for the past three Student Government Association presidential elections have been extremely low.

Our stance: The outcome of these elections actually does affect the student body because the SGA president gets a say in what goes on around campus, therefore more students should be voting.

During the spring Student Government Association elections of 2013, 2014 and 2015, less than ten percent of the student body voted. During these elections, students aren’t just voting for SGA president, they also vote for SGA senators. All of the people who hold these positions are capable of making decisions about what goes on around campus, no matter how small it may seem.

While the process of voting is actually easy, it’s a little difficult to find where to vote. You can do it on Topnet, but that is kind of vague because if you login and start looking for where to vote you won’t find it. To vote you need to go to the Topnet login page and scroll all the way down. Then, click the link that says “click here,” login and vote. Despite the difficulty finding it, voting is much more simple than you think.

Not only does the SGA president and senate make small on campus decisions, but the SGA president also works in close liaison with the Board of Regents. The SGA president serves a voice for the students on the Board of Regents as a student regent, which we need. When voting for president it is best to choose the candidate who will best represent the entire student body among the other regents. The Board of Regents make important decisions about WKU, including how our next university president will be found.

If more people voted in the SGA elections, the elections and SGA in general would be taken more seriously by the rest of the WKU student body. The more they are taken seriously, the more SGA will be given the opportunity to actually make a difference on campus, which is the entire point. So, go on Topnet and vote today. It’s the last day, and it’s your opportunity to care about what happens at WKU. 

Ed. note: Due to a Herald error, election voter turnout was incorrectly identified as “less than one percent of the student body.” The actual turnout numbers were 6.9 percent, 4.4 percent and 7.5 percent for each of the past three elections. We have corrected this to “less than ten percent” to more accurately reflect the true numbers. The Herald regrets the error.