While last week’s Student Government elections had a high voter turnout with more than 10,000 students voting, not all voices were heard.
Students in Innovation Academy and UF’s Pathway to Campus Enrollment (PaCE) program find it difficult, and sometimes impossible, to vote in Fall elections. IA students can’t vote because they are not allowed to enroll in on-campus classes during the Fall.
However, these students are on campus for Spring and Summer.
UF started its PaCE program this past year, in which students take online classes for the first two years of their degree and then transfer to on-campus classes.
Most of these students do not live on campus, but they are allowed to vote if they are in Gainesville.
This means PaCE students who are not in Gainesville would have to travel to campus to vote, and these students can’t mail a write-in ballot.
Students must be enrolled in UF courses, whether online or in-person, to vote in a semester’s election, UF Supervisor of Elections Erica Baker said.
"I know a lot of IA students that are here in Fall," said Shelby Evans, a UF anthropology junior who is enrolled in the IA program.
The fact that these students can’t vote is an issue, she said.
"Their voices can’t be heard," the 20-year-old said. "It’s unfair."
Evans said she voted during last Spring’s election.
She joined IA accidentally when she checked off the IA box on her application in 2013.
"I clicked the box because I kind of thought it was like an honors program," she said.
John Lievonen, a PaCE journalism freshman, was able to vote in the Fall elections, but only because he lives in Gainesville.
"I knew that PaCE students that didn’t have access to the UF campus couldn’t vote," the 18-year-old said. "I think it’s a little unfair because they are members of the University of Florida."
Lievonen said offering students online voting would help. Because most PaCE students don’t live in Gainesville, they may not know about SG.
"I’m sure they don’t get info about it," he said.
PaCE students who don’t live in Gainesville are affected by SG, but to a lesser extent, he said.
"They should still have a vote," he said. "They’re choosing their government for their school."
Contact Caitlin Ostroff at costroff@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter @ceostroff
