No break for voters

Adriane Hardin

Student Government Association can’t get a break.

At least not on the first Tuesday in November.

An October resolution asking the university calendar committee to make Election Day a yearly holiday failed.

“The SGA folks felt that having the day off would encourage students to be more likely to go vote,” Provost Barbara Burch said.”It doesn’t make sense to me that we would call off classes all day.”

Burch said she wants students to develop good voting habits. But part of getting an education is learning how to prioritize and create ways to achieve goals — such as making plans to vote by absentee ballot or driving home if you live close enough to Western, she said.

“When you go to work, you will not find that your employer will shut things down for you to go vote,” Burch said.

If Western called off classes on Election Day, it would not be logical to think that students who live several hours away from home would make that trip in a day, she said.

John Bradley, SGA vice president of Administration and author of the resolution, said he appreciated the university looking into the recommendation, even if it was not passed.

Some students think having Election Day off isn’t really an issue. Louisville freshman Marie Crenshaw said even if she did have the day off, she probably wouldn’t use it go home and vote.

“I’m not gonna go home to vote for representatives I’m not gonna see for four years cause I’m here,” Crenshaw said.

This is not an issue that SGA plans to pursue further.

“It’s probably not going to be written again this semester because it has gone through the administration,” SGA president Jamie Sears said.

Reach Adriane Hardin at [email protected].