Around 8 a.m. today — on Election Day — students at Florida A&M University woke up to emails from Andre Green to participate in the online voting.
The ability to move to an online election brought about concerns and excitement from student leaders and some members of the student body.
Unfortunately, students took to Twitter to voice their disappointment after trying to vote in this year’s election. They are upset that they weren’t told beforehand about the qualifications and eligibility requirements to vote with their respective classes.
One tweet in particular was from sophomore @fxtherwillis, who said, “EC half the sophomore class can’t vote for sophomore positions cuz they credits make them juniors … That’s wild! And Y’all grimey!”
“My opinion about classes not being able to vote for their class is that it’s very unprofessional and shows how unorganized the Electoral Commission is. Like if we are a part of a class we should be able to vote for our class,” sophomore Willis Charlemond said.
Before being able to move elections, online senators debated over the election codes found in Chapter 600, to ensure that they were up to date and aligned with the constitution and statutes for a virtual election.
However, Senator William Walter said,“The students were disserved throughout the election process, from February to April. I have received multiple texts this morning of students not being able to vote with their classmates, many because they are ahead of their projected graduation rate,”
Chapter 600 clearly states that eligibility for freshmen is students have 30 or fewer credits, or in their first year of undergraduate studies, and it is the same for the rest of the qualifications. If a student comes to FAMU with 30 credits, but is technically a first year, they will be able to vote with the freshman class.
“I find it unfortunate that we’re in this scenario. After personally bringing up this possibility during multiple Senate meetings, I had hoped this scenario would be avoided. As a senator, it is our job to represent the best interests of the students at FAMU,” Senator Maurice Gilbert said.
Gilbert said that entering college with extra credits should not be a hindrance to voting with the class you align with.
To stay up to date on all things related to the elections and Electoral Commission, follow @famuelections on Instagram, and @electionsfamu on Twitter.