The Associated Students of UNM passed a bill that will affect future ASUNM elections.
The bill reduces the number of polling stations based on voter turnout number for individual locations. It also encourages further online voting with an emphasis on allocating funds to be used elsewhere.
ASUNM President Jenna Hagengruber said before the beginning online voting, there were eight polling stations operating at various locations around campus for ASUNM elections, paid for by student fees.
When ASUNM passed legislation to implement online voting last spring, they found that more than 900 students voted online, she said.
“About half of the votes that we got for the entire election in the Fall came from online,” Hagengruber said. “So if we’re getting half of our people voting online the first semester it’s been implemented, what we’re seeing is that, from here on out, it’s probably going to continue to rise.”
Hagengruber said she worked with Nadia Cabrera, executive director of ASUNM Election Committee, on forming the bill with the goal of closing the polling locations with low turnout, while simultaneously saving student fees.
“It’s real nice to be idealistic, but when you’re dealing with real numbers... real numbers in the sense of voter turnout but also real numbers in terms of money,” Cabrera said. “Some of the polling stations are just not working, and online voting was clearly a step in the right direction.”
For many years the SUB, SRC and Zimmerman polling stations have had the most votes, she said.
“The numbers don’t lie, clearly people want to vote at these places, even with the option to vote online,” Cabrera said.
With the bill, polling stations will be relegated to only those three buildings, Cabrera said. It costs hundreds of dollars to run each polling station, and the time and resources can be better spent.
“I have to use student funds in the best and most responsible way possible,” Cabrera said. “I think we’re making the right decision by throwing out some of the stuff that’s not working and making room to do new things, to grow the agency and to grow the voting population.”
ASUNM Senator Gabe Gallegos said he thinks this bill will make senators’ jobs even more important as individuals when it comes to student outreach.
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“It’s our job to make sure that, in light of having polling stations, to make sure that we’re outreaching to these areas of campus,” he said. “We need to work harder to represent ourselves better.”
Hagengruber said she wants to make sure students know that just because some polling stations will be done away with at some locations, they will still be promoting ASUNM elections all over campus.
“We want to make sure that students know that voting is for everyone, but we’re just trying to make it more accessible and use less student fees to handle elections,” she said. “So I think it’s a win-win for everybody, because we’re going to be utilizing your student fees for things that are more directly impacting the students and less for elections.”
Matthew Reisen is the news editor for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @DailyLobo
