Glitches and security restrictions in the Phillips Academy server prevented students from voting online in the first round of Student Council presidential elections. Instead, members of Student Council set up a table in Uncommons, handing out paper ballots to students during lunch and dinner on Wednesday. The first round of voting was originally scheduled for Monday, February 4. However, there were problems with the computer server. Frank Pinto ’08, Head of Technology in Student Council, and the technology office did their best to try to configure the server, but faced with security restrictions, they could not get the program to run. By moving the voting to Wednesday, Student Council hoped that they could get the server up and running by then. However, glitches remained, and there was not enough time to reconfigure the system and to get the program running successfully in time for Wednesday voting. In a last-minute decision, the first-round voting took place on paper ballots instead of online ballots. Tantum Collins, President of Student Council, said, “We had some problems with the server just within the last week. The last minute adjustments didn’t work. And we had just barely enough time to set up the paper ballots.” Student Council is currently using a program outside of the Phillips Academy server for the online voting. They are moving towards configuring a PAnet-based voting program. Collins is optimistic in the online voting system for the future, “We really hope the online system will pull through for the next round.” The next round of voting will take place on Monday, February 18.
