Online voting for UF Student Government elections is the closest it's been to a reality in three years, but its supporters expect SG officials to block an amendment they have worked to get on the ballot for the upcoming elections on Feb. 26 and 27.
The group Students for Online Voting turned in a petition Tuesday signed by more than 5,000 students for an amendment to make online voting standard for SG elections.
Tommy Jardon, a UF law student and the group's president, said SG officials would try to block the amendment again because they are afraid of a larger and more diverse student turnout.
Student Body President Ryan Moseley said increasing voter turnout is a top SG priority, but he hasn't seen online voting work well at other universities.
"What it does to the institution itself is not positive," Moseley said. "The parties and the people that run take it a little less serious."
Jardon said turnout tends to double at schools using online voting, including SFCC and Florida State University.
He said online voting would save money, improve ballot secrecy and provide more accurate results.
According to SG finance records, election costs for spring 2006 totaled to about $26,324.
Jardon said making online voting standard would cost $2,400 each year, and the one-time cost for the online system could range from $500 to $3,000.
Jardon said he expects SG officials to take the amendment to the UF Supreme Court to question its constitutionality.
Student Senate President Kevin Reilly, who is also running for Student Body president in February, said he also expects to see online voting in court but declined to comment until after the court's decision.
Jardon said online voting has been controversial since he was on the first SG committee to investigate its practicality in the summer of 2004.
In spring 2005, students collected enough petition signatures to submit the option for online voting, but it never made it on the ballot.
In a secret meeting, the court invalidated the initiative because of ambiguous wording and sent ballots to print without it, he said. The meeting violated Florida Sunshine laws, but the court got "a slap on the wrist," he said.
Students got a partial solution when computers replaced paper ballots in elections for fall 2005 and spring 2006. But with long lines and high costs for poll workers, it wasn't enough, he said.
Online voting faced another roadblock in 2006, he said. Former Student Body President John Boyles asked the court to investigate its constitutionality.
The court decided that paper ballots and the semi-online voting option already used were constitutional, but complete online voting was not because it could lead to voter coercion, he said.
Jardon said the decision was ironic because voter coercion is common among the mostly Greek SG officials who depend on fellow Greeks to vote them into positions.
Greek organizations ensure votes by keeping lists of members' names and making sure they turn in "I Voted" stickers, he said. While there is nothing illegal about the practice, it's more forceful than letting students vote online, he said.
Online voting showed up in court again on Jan. 15, when SG officials questioned the online voting group's petition deadline. But the court left the date for Tuesday, and the group turned in its petition for the amendment.
Jardon said his group is preparing for the worst possible outcome in court.
"What they would basically be doing is telling 10 percent of students 'We don't give a lick what you think,'" he said.
