In its last legislative session of the fall semester, the Student Government Senate passed SGR No. 31 to urge and request a school holiday on Election Day beginning in 2018.
The bill passed with 97 percent approval. The author of the bill, political science sophomore senator Maxwell Martin, said he proposed the bill in order to increase participation in future elections.
“It’s an issue I care about nationally,” Martin said. “People without means have a really hard time voting, and I just think it’s the most important right and we should make it as easy as possible.”
Since the 2017 academic calendar has already been set by University administration, the bill would go into effect for the 2018 academic year.
One senator also mentioned amending the bill to include faculty in the holiday. Martin later added that he would urge to add this amendment to his bill, but said his main priority is to seek approval for the students through the official University scheduler.