Last week, the Student Government Association appointed Senator Lucie Swain as this year’s election commissioner. Swain will supervise the upcoming elections for SGA’s president, Executive Board and Senate.

“I am very excited to be chosen election commissioner this year,” Swain said.

The election commissioner sets rules and procedures for the campaign, ensuring that the elections run fairly and smoothly. This year’s election will take place in February 2008.

Swain, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences, has served on the Senate since her freshman year; she is the only senator to have been on the Senate for all four years. Last year, Swain was the campaign manager for the Moving Forward ticket, which swept the election.

The Committee for Internal Affairs tapped Swain for the position of election commissioner. The committee chose Swain from among many nominations from SGA and the student body.

“Lucie was the best candidate for the job, and I-as well as SGA-have no doubt that she will do the best job,” said Administrative Vice President Priyanka Veerlapati, who chairs the Committee for Internal Affairs.

Veerlapati said that the committee “deliberated the choices and discussed for a long period of time” before deciding on Swain, according to Veerlapati, who ran on last year’s Moving Forward ticket.

“There is never any favoritism towards a nominee, and every nominee is given a fair chance,” she said.

The Senate voted unanimously to confirm Swain’s nomination by the Committee for Internal Affairs at the meeting on Oct. 31.

Executive Vice President Samantha Howard said that one of the major issues facing the election commissioner this year would be voter turn “[In 2007,] there were over 2,200 votes cast for president and the four different vice presidents, but it is always encouraging to get a larger voter turnout,” Howard said.

Swain said that she has ideas about increasing voter turnout, including “[having] more voting booths in the Quad and around campus, as well as voting on the Banner.”

She said these ideas are still in a preliminary stage, however.

Howard said that the field for the election for SGA positions is still wide open.

“Everyone with any vision for a better school, any experience with SGA or making change and progress in the past, or anyone with leadership skills . is a potential candidate,” Howard said.