Voting at Concordia’s Poll turns into more for Students

MOORHEAD — Students received emails leading up to the Nov. 5, 2024 election with instructions on what to do before the day arrived. 

“Also, did you know that if you live on campus you can vote in Birkeland Lounge? All you need is your Cobber ID,” said an email sent to all Concordia students on Oct. 29, 2024. 

However, when students showed up to vote, they needed additional documentation and information or were turned away. 

“I’m writing to let you know that you are able to vote on campus, but that due to a glitch in the ResLife software and its connection with Banner you’ll need to do one more step beyond showing your student ID,” said Chad Lystad, the campus vote coordinator, in an email. 

Students then had to bring a screenshot of their housing assignment for this semester or have a friend or roommate present with them to vouch for them that they live on campus. 

For the past month of October, there had been marketing in Dining Services with the #COBBS VOTE, urging students to “make a plan to vote today” with two categories of students who lived on and off campus. Additionally, SGA had been tabling in the Atrium, reassuring students of what voting would look like for them and answering any questions they might have had.

When reaching out for more information on the situation, SGA president Grace Halvorson said that it was a mistake.

“ITS pulled an outdated voter list a few weeks ago to send to the auditor, so there were about 50 students missing,” Halvorson said in an email. 

Halvorson then stated that it was a “major issue.” 

“(50 students missing) is a major issue and something we have already flagged for the future,” said Halvorson. 

Luckily, Halvorson and Lystad could identify the rest of the students and send them an email with information about how to vote. So all students could go on to vote without any problems.