When February rolls around, there is one dominant topic of conversation in the Student Government circle: SGA elections.
Current senators hurry to get legislation passed before a new administration takes office, nominated presidential slates pack their schedules with campaign stops and an elections committee works overtime, policing the whole affair.
But voter turnout in the elections shows that the average student barely seems to care about SGA.
Last year, 2,023 students voted in the presidential election. That number made up 12.3 percent of Ball State's enrollment at that time, but the number is not uncommon.
The average voter turnout since 1992 is 2,338 students per year. Last year's poll attendance was only slightly under average, but students have not shown a strong turnout at the polls in recent history.
SGA adviser Kay Bales said a number of factors contribute to student apathy in SGA elections.
"Some students don't feel a connection with any of the candidates," Bales said. "Some students are not aware of the issues that SGA works on."
Awareness and apathy have been debate issues for candidates nearly every year, but no one has found a suitable solution to the problem. The early 1990s looked promising, as the election day turnout went from 1,182 to 2,670 in the course of just two years (1992-1994), and hit a peak in 1996 when 3,160 students voted.
The numbers then took a turn for the worse. There has been only one increase in voter turnout since 1996, and last year's total was the lowest since 1993.
"I think students feel disassociated from SGA," current SGA president Tolu Olowomeye said. "They don't feel that their vote is going to have an impact, and they may fail to understand that SGA does represent them."
Olowomeye said she expected a higher voter turnout when she ran last year because the election was clean and competitive. She said she fears this year's election might draw less of a crowd due to the controversy surrounding the race.
Nearly two weeks ago, elections board chairman Michael Metcalf was removed from his position after apparently making an inappropriate comment about a candidate. That setback came after the two presidential slates apparently struck a deal to keep elections code violations secret.
"With the suspicion of secrecy," Olowomeye said, "most feel that the process is going to be corrupted."
The competitiveness of the race may be a factor, but the method of voting may play a role as well.
Before 1996, all voting was done at booths throughout campus. Bales explained that there were a number of polling locations across campus. When students arrived, they had to show their student ID. They were then handed a piece of paper, put a check mark next to the slate of their choice and dropped the paper in a locked box.
This process made voting more tangible. A student couldn't go to class or a dining facility without running into a voting booth.
In 1996, SGA passed legislation enabling elections to be done online in addition to on-campus voting. The number of voters in 1996 soared to 3,160, nearly 1,000 more than the previous year.
Six years later, SGA went entirely electronic. Ballots were no longer available on campus, only online. The number of voters decreased that year by 525.
Olowomeye, who voted against moving to electronic-only voting, said SGA was trying to reduce fraud.
"Some people would vote once online then vote again on campus," she said. "And it (also) made sense to have online voting."
Bales said there have been mixed reactions among students.
"A lot of students will tell you that it has made the process much easier," she said. "Some say it's not as visible."
She also said the counting process is easier.
"Before, we would find out really late (who won)," Bales said. "Now, if voting ends at 6:45, we know who won at 6:46."
There is no doubt voter turnout is low, but other universities struggle with the same problem.
At Purdue University, 2,649 students voted in the last student body presidential election, a mere 7 percent of the Purdue enrollment.
Indiana University, however, has more success. About 7,200 students - or 20 percent of enrolled students - cast their ballot last year.
IU's numbers are closer to the norm for U.S. general elections. In the 1998 general elections, just less than 20 percent of adults 18-24 voted.
According to the book "Vital Statistics in American Politics," the percentage reaches the mid-30s in presidential election years.
Ball State political science professor Gary Crawley said it may be unfair, though, to compare SGA to the United States.
"I don't think SGA handles policies that handle dramatic impact on students' lives," Crawley said. "There are no benefits because it's not like SGA determines tuition."
Despite lack of student interest, the SGA elections board continues to try to improve voter turnout. Current elections board chairman Joe Flores said there were plans to try new ideas before Metcalf was removed.
Flores said they would have set up laptops in the Atrium to take advantage of Ball State's wireless capabilities.
"We had some plans in the works, but we had to scrap some of our plans just to make sure the elections process continued smoothly," Flores said.
So until someone finds a solution to encourage student voters, SGA will continue to represent the voice of 12 percent of the student body.
Bales said there is still hope, though.
"There's always hope that turnout will improve," Bales said. "It takes time, and I don't think that the turnout will improve with the promotion in two weeks of campaigning."
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