By now, you've probably heard about the Student Government elections scandal that I've come to call "votergate."
In short, hundreds of voters were prompted to vote in a district they didn't live in, specifically the commuter students' district, which was uncontested in the election.
In the first 20 percent of the election, 491 ballots were cast in District E, or 92 percent of the votes in that district.
After a fix to the system, 44 ballots, or 8 percent of the votes, were cast in the remaining 80 percent of the election. All in all, 723 percent more ballots were cast in District E this year, which I again remind you is the district of commuter students and had only one uncontested candidate on the ballot.
It is impossible to look at those numbers and say that there isn't a problem, but that is exactly what the Unite Party has done. Its members argued that the election was fine, and that the outcome was fair. This is obviously not the case.
When members of the Students Party called for an investigation, the Unite Party opposed it at every turn. In fact, it was arguing against the investigation at Monday's UF Supreme Court hearing until the very end and then turned around and called it an "appropriate measure" after the Court ruled against Unite. I'm sure we'll see another flip-flop this week when it goes back to opposing a new, fair election after the investigation is concluded.
It's up to you, the students, to keep these officials in check. SG has gotten more and more corrupt since I became a student here, and it's finally time to tell them that enough is enough. Don't let these SG/Unite Party officials silence your voice.
If you experienced any problem voting or if you believe your ballot was cast in the wrong district, the Students Party is actively working to restore your right to a fair election.
Please, as we continue our investigation, email me with any information regarding issues with the election at jonathan@ufstudents.org.
Jonathan Ossip
Students Party member
