Electronic election ends in error

The Student Government Association (SGA) election will be rescheduled, partly because high voter turnout overwhelmed the district server.

The original election, which ended Sept. 17, was conducted online on eCampus. Not only was the server overloaded by heaving voting, but eCampus also was notifying students a day early that the election was over, according to SGA President Dawn Lassiter.

Finally, the name of one of the presidential candidates, Jessica Allen, was left off the eCampus ballot, and not all students were able to vote. Not all students were linked in eCampus to membership in the North Lake SGA, an option which should appear under the Community tab, Lassiter said.

The decision to reschedule the election was the only way for students to make “a good, well-balanced choice,” Lassiter said. She said the new election will be from Tuesday through Friday, beginning a few weeks after the old election ended.

The new election will use a paper ballot. Students will show their IDs to vote, and, as they vote, their names will be checked off a master list. Lassiter urged students who voted on eCampus to vote again in the new election.

The eCampus overload and the inability of some students to vote are especially serious problems, Lassiter said. “As soon as we get our officers into place, these two items are first on the agenda,” Lassiter said. She said she plans to take up the issue with the SGA Executive Council, an association of the presidents and vice-presidents of all Dallas County Community College student governments.

Having student votes overwhelm the computer means high participation and “it was a wonderful, good problem,” Lassiter said. But it highlights one of her concerns, whether the district is ready with computer resources for what “this up and coming generation … is used to,” she said.

“This is telling me we are not prepared,” Lassiter said. “It’s unacceptable for the 21st century.”

Officers in the uncontested races were sworn in Sept. 19. They are Alison Tucker, vice president; Uliser Salmeron, secretary; and Muhammad Ali, historian.

Presidential candidates are Shane Uys, Monica Ellington, Aaron Van Audenhove and Jessica Allen. Parliamentarian candidates are Natasha Warmsley and Naomi Ciira. Treasurer hopefuls are Bobby Sheppard and Syed Ahmed.

-- Compiled from staff reports