When the founding fathers created the American Electoral College, they created a buffer between the majority vote and the actual selection of the president. They were aware of the scary possibility of the electorate being persuaded, bribed or forced to vote for someone who would mishandle power. So, they created a process in which voters express their preferred candidates, and then previously designated state electors vote, in most states, for the candidate who won the state’s popular vote. We, however, don’t have that sort of buffer in our Student Government elections. So, the nightmare that probably kept our founding fathers tossing and turning is a very real possibility at UF. In fact, it may have already happened.
Before the Swamp Party era, there was a similarly dominant party called Unite. They were exposed in 2010 when audio recordings of a meeting between Unite Party members, supporters and representatives of sororities and fraternities revealed some jaw-dropping voter coercion tactics. One sorority was praised for rewarding sisters with booze, and another was commended for disallowing pledges to eat until they voted. Furthermore, the speakers in the tapes condemned and applauded certain houses for respective voter turnout rates, which were measured by counting voting stickers. Overall, the tapes highlighted some last-minute campaign tactics and demonstrated a disappointing overlap between SG and the Greek community. It actually happened at our school, and Unite won the presidential seat that year and the years that followed.
The party they elected was arguably the most publicly scandalous in UF history. At one point, Unite members were even seen trashing hundreds of copies of the Alligator that announced former head football coach Will Muschamp’s endorsement of an opposing party’s vice presidential candidate. Unite eventually realized it had one scandal too many, so it pulled off the old switcheroo and gave birth to Swamp. We will never know if Unite would’ve won any of its elections without coercing Greeks to vote. We do know, however, that those Greeks faced an overbearing force that uncomfortably impeded on their right to make their own decision and vote accordingly. Unfortunately, they’re not alone.
Similar to the way parents’ political ideologies influence those of their children, we, although often accused of being strong-headed young adults, are influenced by our friends. Whether it’s through direct conversations, shirts, statuses, tweets or Snapchat stories, we’re socialized to think that some ideologies are acceptable and others are not. That’s when we succumb to outside pressures, and we let voting decisions be made for us. Let’s change that.
You have until 8:30 p.m. today to vote. The first thing you can do is what we millennials call “research.” Go to Access’ and Swamp’s Facebook pages and learn about their candidates and ideas. If you’re still not sure who you want to vote for, have a conversation with a member of each party. I’m sure they’ll be all over campus hunting us down like they’re selling Gator Growl tickets, so put them to the test and see what’s really behind their oddly-enthusiastic-for-9-a.m. voices.
Then, find the time to think and mentally isolate yourself. Decide who you’re going to vote for and why you want them to be your voice. To avoid letting your vote be rocked, as opposed to rocking it yourself, leave your friends outside of this decision-making process. Lastly, take your Gator 1 Card or an ID and your UFID number to a polling location and participate in this democracy. Your decisions at the computer screen are completely confidential, so don’t fear repercussions.
At UF, there is not an Electoral College; the future is entirely in your hands. Your vote will help decide who gets to handle the nearly $19 million-dollar Activity and Service Fee budget we generate when we pay tuition. No matter who you are or which organizations you’re a member of, your friends probably don’t pay your fees. Therefore, don’t let them decide who you want to handle your money. Instead, rock your own vote.
Christopher Wilde is a UF biochemistry freshman. His column appears on Wednesdays.
[A version of this story ran on page 7 on 2/25/2015 under the headline “Rock your own vote; don’t let anyone else decide SG’s fate”]
