Student Government senators unanimously passed a bill on Tuesday that is intended to make absentee voting easier for students during SG elections, particularly for students at UF’s satellite campuses.
Satellite campuses are located in cities throughout the state, including Orlando, Jacksonville and St. Petersburg.
The Satellite Campus Voter Participation Act, drafted by members of the Student Alliance party, requires the supervisor of elections to provide a ballot on the SG website and notify all students that the ballot is available two weeks before the submission deadline.
Senator Graham Clark, who represents the Student Alliance party, said the bill was necessary because the current absentee ballot system is difficult to use.
“We just think that it would be nice to make things easier for these guys,” Clark said.
The amendment passed with a vote of 50 to 18.
Currently, SG staff members send the link to the absentee ballot via the Gator Times, said Ben Meyers of the Unite Party.
“Most of what is said in this legislation is already done,” he said.
Senators also passed a resolution supporting the Florida American Legion Boys State and Florida American Legion Auxiliary Girls State programs and encouraging more support for the programs from UF.
A resolution is a piece of legislation that states the Senate’s opinion but takes no action.
The student government website is http://sg.ufl.edu/.
Clarification: The amendment would not require the Supervisor of Elections to send an e-mail to every student telling them where to find the ballot online. Ossip said the Gator Times does not send out a link to the absentee ballot and most students are unaware of it because the SG website is difficult to navigate. The Alligator failed to report this clearly.
