On Wednesday afternoon, the UF Election Commission decided to allow an amendment about online voting to appear on the Spring 2016 Student Government election ballot. This means, in two weeks, UF students will be able to vote for or against online voting for future SG elections.
If passed, the amendment would allow students to not only vote on campus, but also online through ISIS. With ISIS already protecting our Social Security numbers and personal information, we at the Alligator are comfortable with the site also handling our election votes.
While you’ll be deprived of your ability to sport an “I voted” sticker around campus, this does mean you’ll be able to cast your vote for SG candidates from anywhere you want. Not only does this make things easier for those of us in the city of Gainesville, but it also makes things a lot easier for students still enrolled but not anywhere near a voting station.
And we at the Alligator couldn’t be happier — except for the fact that it took SG this long to give the Student Body the option to consider online voting.
Online voting was first shut down in 2008 by the UF Supreme Court for reasons we still don’t understand. Ever since then, SG hasn’t bothered to consider it, even as Florida State University, the University of South Florida and the University of Central Florida have all managed to successfully implement online voting systems.
It brings up the simple question: If they can do it, why can’t we?
The amendment’s language on the ballot was challenged by UF Supervisor of Elections Erica Baker. In a memo, she argued against the original petition simply because the wording implied that students in UF’s Pathway to Campus Enrollment program, online students and those studying abroad could not currently vote. Right now, they can vote through absentee ballots.
As journalists, we completely understand how a single word can completely warp meaning and intentions. But in this situation, the wording of the petition won’t affect the amendment’s outcome. It will still make things much easier for PaCE and off-campus students to vote, regardless of potential misconceptions, and that’s what matters.
Simply put, the amendment, if approved, would surely help increase our dismal election turnout. When it comes down to it, Baker’s duty as supervisor is to encourage students to vote and to make that process as easy as possible. We believe this amendment will give all students equal opportunity to vote.
But in two weeks, all of this may not matter. Because if the amendment doesn’t receive at least 60 percent of student support, this possibility is gone. And having come so far, it would most likely be very difficult for it to gain traction again.
That’s why, readers, it’s up to you. We cannot stress enough how important it is, more than ever, for you to vote in this year’s Spring elections. Not only will you be voting for the people who will control millions of dollars in your student fees (a whole other issue entirely), but you’ll be voting to give your fellow Gators — abroad, online and at home — the chance to have their voices heard for the first time in UF history.
So, on Feb. 16 and 17, we at the Alligator encourage our fellow students to vote in favor of the online voting amendment.
Because if you walk to the polls then, you may not have to ever again.
