The time of the semester has rolled around once again when the Student Government Association (SGA) elections are about to be held. Some obvious changes must be implemented this Fall since classes are being conducted almost exclusively online and campus life is relatively inactive. However, an online method for elections was used last semester, and it went very well.

The election last Spring was for the position of Student Trustee as a representative on the Board of Trustees. Cory Tomasson, the SGA advisor, said, “The election process for the Student Trustee position ran very smoothly.  We had a number of students that expressed initial interest, about six filed forms, and ultimately two of them obtained the necessary amount of electronic petition signatures to be placed on the ballot.  I personally believe that this process worked very well.  It allowed us to reach the entire student body to promote running and voting, provide more time and accessibility to students to vote, and strengthen the policies for voting procedures.  We had a comparable amount of electronic voters for that election than we generally get through our traditional method.” Manuel “Tony” Galindo was eventually elected to the position.

The same method of election will be implemented with this Fall’s elections, which begins in just a few days. Details from Tomasson follow:

“This semester, we will utilize the same method to select the seven available sophomore positions which include: President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Sophomore Representative, and two Sophomore Programming Board Members.  This is a three-step process and we have just finalized dates this week.

Step 1 will take place from Oct. 12, 2020- Oct. 15, 2020:  All students will receive an email that will direct them to an IVCC Website.  On this site, eligible Sophomores will be able to electronically request to petition for a specific office.  Each student can only petition for one position. 

Step 2 will take place from Oct. 19, 2020- Oct. 22, 2020: Every student will receive an email that will identify each individual that completed step 1.  Students will then be able to select the students on the list for which they would like to “electronically sign” their petition.  Students can choose to sign as many or as few petitions as they would like for any available position.  Each eligible Sophomore that receives 50 signatures will be placed on the ballot for their identified position

Step 3 will take place from Nov. 2, 2020- Nov. 4, 2020: Every student will receive an email that will direct them to a site where they can cast their electronic ballot for the election.  The directions for voting will be on the site.”

There are no real differences this year in the way that SGA is functioning besides those obviously caused by COVID-19. Ideas are being hatched and Zoom meetings are taking place to brainstorm ideas to further involve students this year.

If you have any questions, ideas, or if you are interested in getting involved with the Student Government Association, you can contact Cory Tomasson directly at [email protected].