In a recent attempt to make updating its website easier and supposedly more understandable for students, Student Government recently passed legislation to post only voting percentages as opposed to person-by-person voting breakdowns on its website.
We don’t know what sort of discussion went into this change, or if the topic of transparency ever came up, but it’s important for SG to realize that limiting students’ access to these records does affect transparency. As a public entity, SG should be willing to disclose voting records for all of its members without students specifically requesting them.
The reasons behind why SG no longer wants to post the full person-by-person breakdowns of votes are weak at best.
Sure, it might be easier for students to look at a pie chart of voting record breakdowns than a spreadsheet recording a vote of each member of the Senate, but that doesn’t mean a person-by-person breakdown is entirely useless.
If students wouldn’t be able to understand the spreadsheet depicting voting records, isn’t it a good idea to simplify those spreadsheets or make them more understandable? Why should they be taken away entirely?
The idea of not posting voting records because the Senate barely votes on anything controversial is preposterous. SG might not be the best at determining what is and what is not controversial, and it’s voted on plenty of contentious measures, such as establishing a black caucus and a Greek caucus.
Voting records are more important than SG’s leaders might care to admit. Consider any presidential, senatorial or gubernatorial election when candidates stand by their voting records and opposing candidates attack them.
While SG has said it’s willing to give anyone who requests them a copy of voting records, it should remember that willing or unwilling, Louisiana public records law obligates it to disclose voting records. The state’s open meetings law also demands all of SG’s meetings be
publicized and open to the public.
If there’s nothing to hide, then what’s the harm?