Letter to the Editor: Several students barred from voting

While some people might think that voter apathy was the major cause of low voting numbers in the March 30 DSG election, we contend that the technical inability to vote was a major prevention of hearing students' voices.

First of all, many people with whom we have talked did not receive the e-mail telling us to vote; this oversight may have resulted from our abroad status. No one in our program received notification from DSG.

Then, from first hand experience, we know that our votes were not cast because the website claimed our Honor Code pledge was not signed. Since both of us have voted in previous elections, this claim was an obvious malfunction of the site. Our multiple voting attempts were futile and, as a result, we then decided to wage a complaint to the posted address of voting@dsg.duke.edu. We each received a notice that said the e-mail address is invalid. Regardless of the outcome of the election, we feel that the potential misrepresentation of the student body is due cause for at least sparking the discourse of a revote. While we do not question the level of the candidates' support, the small victory margins raise the question of equity in this election.

We encourage anyone with similar problems to contact DSG and us.