The Signal was pleased to see the outcome of the Student Government Association (SGA)'s fall elections. Not only, after years of software failures, did the organization manage to successfully implement an online voting system, but they managed to muster voter turnout higher than any in memory.
After last spring's referendum to create the new executive board position vice president of equity and diversity, a process which yielded only 187 votes out of the nearly 6,000 undergraduate students enrolled at the College, it was refreshing to see students so enthusiastically get involved in the democratic process.
According to Caitlin Dwyer's Oct. 5 report, elections chair and Alternate Student Trustee Daria Silvestro indicated that SGA's Fall elections - typically reserved for class representatives and positions that weren't filled during the Spring elections - usually bring about 500 people to the polls.
This year, with online voting in full force, the number was just over 1,000 - a noteworthy accomplishment.
This is even more voters than SGA usually brings for its more highly publicized Spring executive board elections -according to Silvestro, those elections usually draw 800 to 900 voters.
We can only hope that in the coming year, with student interest in SGA riding at a somewhat-higher-than-usual level, the organization can take palpable strides toward addressing their concerns, working on their behest to improve the overall undergraduate experience at the College.
