SBP candidates, unable to set up online petitions, turn to ITS

Last week, Information Technology Services found itself preventing broken campaigns, not broken laptops.

Days into the student body president campaign, three of the then-seven candidates were having so much trouble setting up online petitions that they turned to ITS for help.

Shruthi Sundaram, chairwoman of the Board of Elections, said there is nothing in the Student Code that prohibits ITS from assisting candidates.

Sundaram said she directed candidates to an online ITS help tutorial for creating Onyen-authenticated websites.

Each candidate must collect 1,250 signatures in order to be placed on the ballot. To sign a petition online, students are required to provide their Onyen and password.

Three of the candidates — Leigh Fairley, Will Leimenstoll and Warche Downing — said they had trouble setting up a way to authenticate a student’s Onyen and approached ITS directly.

Bruce Egan, director of the ITS Response Center, said it took some time to set up the website for the first candidate who approached ITS.

“We had no understanding going in of what the requirements were,” he said.

After the first website was set up, Egan said, that approach was used with other candidates and didn’t take as long.

Matt Howell, manager of walk-in services at ITS, said setting up the websites was not difficult for his staff.

“The cost to ITS would be no more than if someone came in and needed help troubleshooting a wireless connection. It’s nothing out of the ordinary in terms of cost,” he said.

Howell said candidates then had to check with the Board of Elections to make sure the setup was within the rules.

He added that an official system for online signatures might be set up in the future.

The other candidates all said they had friends set up the petition websites.

“It was relatively easy once I found a friend that was computer savvy enough,” candidate Calvin Lewis said.

In the past, candidates have campaigned for signatures on clipboards in the Pit or by canvassing residence halls, a method known as dorm storming.

Last year, Ian Lee was the first candidate to create an online alternative to paper signatures. The Board of Elections approved the method. Lee is now a member of The Daily Tar Heel’s editorial board.

All of the then-seven candidates set up their websites by Saturday, they said. Signatures must be submitted to the board by Tuesday at 5 p.m.

Brian Min and Tim Longest are also running for student body president. Nico Garces withdrew from the race Sunday.

Longest said the board’s decision to approve online signatures while declining to offer further guidance was fair.

“It is very difficult to get set up, even if you’re a serious web designer,” he said.

Candidates said they are mostly using social media and word of mouth to promote their online petitions.

Contact the University Editor at university@dailytarheel.com.