Voting for Student Association president in Schine can reach more students than voting in Bird Library

CORRECTION: In a previous version of this editorial, the number of voting stations on campus was misstated. Voting stations are already located in the Student Schine Center and throughout campus. E.S. Bird Library will be an additional location. The Daily Orange regrets this error.

Although opening a new voting location gives students an additional way to vote for Student Association president, the E.S. Bird Library is not the best location.

At Monday’s meeting, SA officials announced that a voting station will be set up in library so students can vote in person. Students have voted only via MySlice since 2002. Last year’s contested SA election broke voting records.

Opening a voting location may seem like a way to keep riding on this success, but setting it up in Bird is a poor decision. The Schine Student Center is a better location.

The library should be a quiet place for students and community members to study and do work. Having a voting location may interrupt that process for some students.

Students also use the library after classes end and late at night. It is unclear whether the SA voting station would be open at night for those students.

Not all students frequent the library. Some students prefer to do work in campus buildings or in study rooms in their residential halls or apartments.

More students pass through Schine during the day, so SA would be able to reach a larger audience. If students are busy while walking through the building, seeing the voting station could serve as a reminder to vote. Students may return to Schine at a later time to vote, or the voting station may prompt them to log into MySlice and vote online.

Having an additional voting station gives students another way to vote, but having the station in a poor location defeats the point.