Last spring’s 6 percent turnout for the Government of the Student Body elections has led some senators to propose electronic voting on the Internet.

“We hope this makes it easier for students to cast their votes,” said T.J. Schneider, RCA. “We’re trying to get out to them instead of making them come to us.”

Schneider is one of seven GSB senators sponsoring two bills that would begin the process to implement electronic voting for GSB elections, perhaps even as soon as this spring.

The first bill, titled “GSB, Voting and the 21st Century,” would alter the bylaws to include stipulations and regulations for Internet voting.

The second bill, titled “Electronic Voting for Iowa State University,” asks that $5,000 be allocated from the GSB special projects account to the ISU Computation Center to develop and implement the program. It also asks that $600 be allocated from the senate discretionary fund to the center to make the program secure and host it on the center’s server.

“This is something that I thought about when I first ran for GSB and something I wanted to accomplish during my term,” said Rick Cordaro, UDA, author of the bills. “I wanted to initiate electronic voting because of voter apathy.”

Cordaro said Internet voting also would help preserve ISU’s reputation for being a “wired” campus, would make it easier for off-campus students to vote during the three-day period, and it would reduce paperwork and other costs.

GSB has been working with the Computation Center to develop some possible ideas for making online voting available yet this school year, Cordaro said.

The software may use students’ Project Vincent user names and passwords to log into the system and cast their votes, while students without Vincent accounts still would be able to vote traditionally at stations throughout campus, he said.

Cordaro said any opposition he may face from GSB probably would be in regard to the security of the system, ensuring students can’t vote more than once.

“The security precautions are as good as they get, as far as I know,” he said. “The software will run on the Computation Center’s secure server.”

Dorothy Lewis, associate director of the Computation Center, said the project still is at the investigation point.

“Even though GSB is attempting to allocate some funds, it’s nothing we’re guaranteeing for spring,” she said. “We don’t want to commit at this point.”

GSB will meet tonight at 7 in the Campanile Room of the Memorial Union. The following will be discussed:

Seating Bills

• A bill seating Ashley Herr as a senator for the College of Engineering. By Golding and Cordaro.

• A bill seating Jenna Shenton as a senator for the College of Education. By Wisher and Olson.

Old Business

• A bill to allocate $3,548 to the Off Campus and Adult Student Services Office to cover salary raises and benefits. By Pogge.

• A bill to allocate $350 to the Iowa State Film Club to fund a Movie Trivia Night. By Weaver.

• A bill to allocate $26,050 to install lockers at the Lied Recreation Center. By Edmiston, Patel and others.

• A bill to allocate $150 to send a student to the 89th annual convention of the National Council of Teachers on Nov. 18-23. By DeKoster and Schneider.

New Business

• A bill establishing in the GSB bylaws a procedure to negotiate and adopt agreements between GSB and other entities. By Wisher, Olson and others.

• A bill to ratify the annual contract between GSB and the Student Union Board for office space. By Olson, Wisher and others.

• A bill to ratify the agreement between GSB and the Dean of Students Office to fund the office of Student Legal Services. By Olson, Wisher and others.

• A funding bill to allocate $850 to the GSB Senate/IRHA Special Committee on the Department of Residence to conduct focus groups and a small survey. By Olson, Wisher and others.

• A bill altering the GSB bylaws to make them in compliance with prospective electronic voting. By Cordaro, Olson and others.

• A funding bill to allocate to the ISU Computation Center $5,000 from the special projects account and $600 from the senate discretionary fund to create and implement electronic voting. By Cordaro, Olson and others.

• A funding bill to allocate $4,500 from the special projects account to the Department of Public Safety to purchase equipment for the safety escort service. By Pogge, Cordaro and others.