EDITORIAL: Virtual Voting

Choosing Undergraduate AssemblyChoosing Undergraduate Assemblyrepresentatives via the WorldChoosing Undergraduate Assemblyrepresentatives via the WorldWide Web could increaseChoosing Undergraduate Assemblyrepresentatives via the WorldWide Web could increaseparticipation, improveChoosing Undergraduate Assemblyrepresentatives via the WorldWide Web could increaseparticipation, improverepresentation and decreaseChoosing Undergraduate Assemblyrepresentatives via the WorldWide Web could increaseparticipation, improverepresentation and decreasestudent apathy.Choosing Undergraduate Assemblyrepresentatives via the WorldWide Web could increaseparticipation, improverepresentation and decreasestudent apathy._____________________________ Rather than waiting in long lines to cast ballots at computers that often malfunction, students could make their voices heard virtually, using the World Wide Web browser Netscape from their homes or University computer labs. The system would be protected from voter fraud in a manner similar to that currently employed by Penn InTouch; students would enter their social security numbers and personal access codes before making their choices for the UA. After voting, students' names would be entered into a database that would prevent them from casting extra ballots -- much like the present system, which requires students to have their PennCards scanned before they can vote. According to UA Chairperson Lance Rogers, when Stanford University instituted a virtual voting system, participation in elections for student government jumped to an incredible 80 percent. Compare that to last spring at Penn, when two referenda for radical constitutional reform of student government were up for ratification. Both failed because only 13.6 percent of students bothered to cast ballots. Administrators often discount the pleas and proposals of the UA and other branches of student government because of the widespread -- and accurate -- perception that these "representatives" are not particularly representative of the student body as a whole.

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