Kristen Koch, electoral commissioner for the 2009 Association of Students of the University of Nebraska elections, considers herself an "old-school" voter.
"I love going to a physical polling site and getting my sticker that says ‘I voted,'" said Koch, a first year law student. "Getting the sticker is my biggest high."
Unfortunately for Koch, ASUN's recent switch from traditional paper ballots to exclusively online voting could make stickers harder to come by.
This year was the first time ASUN conducted voting for its election entirely online. Officials made the switch, they said, to complement students' lifestyles and to stay current with voting methods used by UNL's peer institutions.
"We felt it was a move to the future," said Marlene Beyke, ASUN director of administration.
Beyke called the March 4 election day "business as usual," with only a smattering of confused phone calls.
Voter turnout leapt this year, from 13.3 percent in 2008 to 16.7 percent of eligible voters.
Koch said the new online format has "almost everything" to do with the increase.
Students were able to access a link to the voting site from an e-mail reminding them to vote.
"It doesn't take any extra effort," Koch said.
ASUN senators expressed concern about the possibility of voter fraud, but no security issues have come up, Koch said.
The electoral commission chose VoteNet as its online voting provider. The site is regularly used for "more high-stakes" elections Koch said, such as a corporation's board of directors. That means security is already pretty air-tight, she said.
The commission plans to meet with VoteNet to discuss revamping the system for next year, she said. Candidates waited two hours as the commission processed 14 individual ballots, one from each college at UNL.
The commission checked the results in Excel using a double-blind test and then created an unofficial document of results to give to the parties and the press. Candidates learned of results prior to 10 p.m.
"I hope people realize it's actually a lot faster than years in the past," Koch said.
She recalled running for a senate position as an undergraduate and hearing results after midnight.
Students who voted this year sounded pleased with the change.
Arik Vossler, a sophomore geology major who spends most of his time on East Campus, appreciated not having to make a special trip to City Campus to vote. A voting site existed on East Campus, but its hours were limited, Vossler said.
Sophomore secondary education major Nikki Burks also liked being able to vote from home and found VoteNet easy to use.
"I don't really frequent the Union that much," she said.
While online voting might be easier, it doesn't necessarily mean that students are less invested in ASUN elections, Burks said.
"Busy people who do want to vote, it gives them a chance, too," Burks said. "The more votes the better."
renaeblum@dailynebraskan.com
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