Americans are known for having low voter turnout.
But most general elections involve going to a designated polling place and filling out an individual voting card.
Student Government Association makes its election process far easier. Students can vote online at www.bsu.edu/votebsu on March 1 and 2.
If calling up a Web address is not easy enough, Kay Bales, associate vice president for student life, said she plans to send an e-mail to all students that includes the link, reminding them to vote and helping them in the process.
Joe Flores, Elections Board chairman, said the board also plans on having wireless laptops at the LaFollette concourse to give more people the opportunity to vote.
Having wireless laptops will benefit the election because it will remind those who have Internet access that an election is in progress, while giving those who do not have time to go to a computer lab or do not have Internet access to vote.
Students like these are usually not found in LaFollette.
For this method to be effective, the Elections Board should consider additional areas to target voters. The laptop option could also be used in high-traffic areas like Bracken Library, the Atrium in the Art and Journalism Building or the Teachers College to gain more voters.
Only 2,039 students out of 18,000 voted in last year's SGA election.
With campus computer labs, residence hall labs and room ethernet capabilities, these numbers should be much higher.
This year's elections board has taken the initiative to increase student voting in SGA elections. If this initiative is taken a step further, SGA could see far higher voting numbers than in previous years.
Whether more students are willing to vote plays a role in this election. If there was a prescription for apathy, politicians would have discovered it long ago.
But it never hurts to try, and that is all the Elections Board can do.
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