IUSA to conduct clicker voting

The IU Student Association is bringing its voting and attendance system into the 21st century.

Instead of taking attendance via voice affirmation, IUSA will be implementing a clicker system already used in large lecture classes at IU for Congress meetings.

The IUSA Web site will eventually allow students to see how Congress members have voted.

With the new clicker system, IUSA Speaker of the House Mike Powell, a senior, said there will be personal accountability because the Congress members’ voting records will be available to the public, just like in the U.S. Congress.

IUSA Vice President Dan Sloat, also a senior, said students will be able to recognize the diversity in votes, which might help them figure out for whom they will vote in the IUSA elections.

“One of the drawbacks to voice affirmation is that the voice of dissension is lost,” Sloat said. “To some outside students, it may appear that no serious voting is taking place because no one is blatantly opposing a bill.”

Powell said the clicker system will improve the record keeping, transparency, efficiency and legitimacy of IUSA.

“It will improve the transparency of IUSA because it is a useful tool to consolidate records and go to software,” Powell said. “Roll call vote takes 10 minutes, but with the clicker system it will only take 30 seconds to a minute, which will improve efficiency.”

IUSA worked with University Information Technology Services to make the clicker system plausible.

The system did not cost anything for IUSA. UITS is lending clickers, software and receivers for the duration of the academic year.

A lending agreement Sloat signed Friday stated that UITS can borrow back the equipment on a case-by-case basis, but this will never conflict with Congress meetings.

Sloat said this is the biggest change to internal Congress in a long time.

Eventually, IUSA would like to give all students a voice by allowing them to vote using their cell phones, but Sloat said that change will not occur in the current administration.

The idea for this system was borne during a meeting of the Association of Big Ten Students, when IUSA discovered that other Big Ten schools such as Illinois already employed the governing system.

The clicker system will be implemented in the March 10 Congress meeting.