The Duke Student Government election, originally scheduled for Thursday, has been postponed to April 16.
Thursday’s voting was supposed to elect students for DSG vice president and senator positions in addition to electing students to serve on class councils. A glitch with the online voting system prevented voters for casting votes for class-specific positions as well as for senators. All ballots cast Thursday will be discarded.
“We are making every effort possible to ensure every student is given a fair and equal opportunity to vote for all corresponding representative positions,” said junior Sam Marks, DSG attorney general.
The Board of Elections met Thursday and limited candidates from campaigning further, Marks added. Candidates can no longer post flyers, posters or messages via social media, but they can talk to students in person.
President Alex Swain, a senior, said that she hopes the candidates will be able to maintain enthusiasm among their supporters. She added that this year’s candidates are very good campaigners, so it will not be a problem that they have restricted campaigning abilities.
Candidates do not need to remove existing campaign material.
The University Center for Activities and Events maintains the online voting system. “Our goal was to maintain the integrity of the election,” said David Pittman, UCAE director of student activities.
He added that he hopes the technology glitch does not deter students from voting in Tuesday’s election.
“I hope that every student will still exercise his or her right to vote notwithstanding the issues today,” Marks said.
Junior Patrick Oathout, executive vice president, said that he is not concerned that the delayed election will negatively impact voter turnout.
“At Duke, Tuesdays are good voter turnout days since people will be checking their email and be on campus,” Oathout said.
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