There are 14 million reasons why students should have voted in this fall's Student Government elections.
Although all students contribute the funds that make up SG's $14 million budget, only 17 percent showed up to have their say as to where the money goes.
Out of the 49,679 students at UF, 8,483 voted.
"They don't think it affects them," said SG Supervisor of Elections Ariana Alfonso. "They're very apathetic of the whole situation."
Alfonso said turnout this fall was higher than expected for a year without a national election. The hype around last fall's presidential election brought a turnout of 10,469 students.Alfonso said she wishes students would use SG elections as a way to develop good voting habits so they can participate in elections outside of UF in the future, when they might care more about the issues.
Eric LeBlanc, a UF accounting graduate student, said he did not vote in the fall elections.
He said students tend not to vote because they don't know the issues or the candidates.
Progress Party President Dave Schneider said filling in a ballot often represents the only interaction students have with their representatives.
Schneider said students feel alienated from SG because they see it as an elite clique that hangs out on the third floor of the Reitz Union and fails to reach out to them.
When parties do make themselves known during election week, they come out in full force.
UF sophomore Philip Osorio said he feels bombarded by campaigners and confused when all three parties congregate in the same area.
"It just clusters up in your mind," Osorio said. "It just overwhelms you."
Orange and Blue Party President Kyle Huey said students also tend to get frustrated with campaigners because they hear little about SG except during elections.
"I think that if students had a better idea of what SG does the other weeks out of the year, they might not just be turned off by the campaigning," Huey said.
Huey and Schneider agreed that SG should spend more time with students by tabling throughout the year and improving communication with SG-funded organizations.
Unite Party President Joey Regalado said students don't realize the impact SG has on campus. He said SG can increase turnout by making students more aware of the services it offers and advertising its new projects.
Ben Cavataro, the policy and communications director for the Orange and Blue Party, said the low turnout also emphasizes the need for online voting.
Other voting issues include inconvenient polling locations and the need to fill out a change of address form.
Schneider said a Progress Party candidate spent 40 minutes trying to prove that his address and status as a student.
"The system has been designed to be so inefficient and so alienating that to me it's no surprise that people don't come out," he said.
The two-day voting window and long lines at the polls make it hard for students to vote, but online voting could boost turnout, Cavataro said.
Alfonso said students use the long lines and change of address forms as excuses. Students can change their addresses on ISIS or fill out a form at the poll, she said.
"People wait in line for McDonald's," she said. "People wait in line for everything. Why can't they wait in line to vote?"
