On Wednesday night, a group of UF students got one step closer to bringing online voting to UF.
Global Vote, a group of students that advocates online voting, received approval from the UF Elections Commission for their petition of more than 3,000 signatures. If successful, an amendment will be on the Spring SG election ballot to create an online voting system.
After approving polling locations for the Spring 2016 elections, Elections Commission Chairman Devin Esposito read a memo from the UF supervisor of elections, Erica Baker, in which she expressed concern about the students’ method for gathering signatures.
“While I applaud our students exercising their right to put initiatives on the ballot, I am concerned with the language used to obtain these signatures,” Baker wrote in the memo.
She said the summary of the petition may lead students to think students in UF’s Pathway to Campus Enrollment, Innovation Academy and study-abroad programs have no right to vote. She said the commission or the UF Supreme Court should correct the language so it doesn’t mislead students.
The memo set off arguments from members of the student group.
Tyler Richards, a member of Global Vote, argued against the memo.
“We disagree wholeheartedly with Erica Baker,” Richards said. “The wording is extraordinarily clear.”
Austin Young, a member of Global Vote, cited Article 8, Section 2 of the UF Constitution, and argued the petition reached the 5-percent threshold, gathering more than 2,500 votes. Only the amendment’s summary can be modified by the commission.
Commission members argued if the petition did mislead students, they cannot change the language of the amendment because it wasn’t what the students signed.
“The whole language seems flawed,” Commissioner Brian Sullivan said.
Young argued that, no matter what, the amendment will be on the ballot because it received more than 2,500 signatures.
The petition garnered 350 votes on the first day, Young said. He said it showed students agreed online voting should be available at UF.
Baker wrote in an email that the amendment will need to pass by a majority vote in the Supreme Court. Once it is put on the ballot, it will also need a majority of student votes to pass.
But to the members of Global Vote, giving students the chance to vote online was a victory.
“We’re just happy that it’s finally going to the ballot,” Young said. “Students will get to decide for themselves.”
Contact Melissa Gomez at mgomez@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter @MelissaGomez004.
