There are telltale signs of the upcoming Student Government elections. Political parties prowl Turlington Plaza for undecided voters. Fliers are distributed. You may have even read about a certain SG sugar daddy or an increase in toilet paper quality.
As the election for 50 Senate seats is upon us, The Alligator’s editorial board sat down with the leaders of both Inspire and Impact parties to discuss and ask questions on the parties’ merits and plans for SG’s nearly $21 million budget. Before we continue, it’s important to note that the litany of UF’s SG scandals present itself as a wannabe “House of Cards,” excluding the predatory nature of its lead cast member.
Since its inception, we’ve seen several parties come up and fizzle out when matched up against Impact Party.
Say a prayer for the parties we’ve lost: Access, Progress and Challenge. Independent parties have tried their best to go against the majority party, but they were poorly organized in comparison to Impact’s hold on the legislative and executive branches.
It’s impressive that the party has survived even after its former student body president was arrested for drunkenly knocking down motorcycles in Key West and after party leaders have said they supported online voting but refuse to implement it.
This year, we talked over what each party hopes to accomplish. We came away with a good impression of both parties, but one presented fresher ideas and a more fervent commitment to transparency and accountability: Inspire Party.
It was Inspire that called for the inclusion of a Multicultural & Diversity Affairs liaison into the SG Senate chambers, whereas Impact brushed the idea aside.
Impact has pursued diversity via other avenues, such as reaching out to different multicultural organizations and starting the “Bridges” minority outreach program. Impact has also lobbied Congress for a clean Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act.
But Inspire has called for greater transparency to see what the student lobbyists are truly up to when they travel to Tallahassee or Washington, D.C. Impact provides plenty of platform tracker videos, but none regarding what it’s up to and the money it’s spending in the country’s and state’s capitals. Students are also left without a report on how successful those lobbying efforts were. Inspire strives to change those practices.
Now, neither party was able to give us a clear plan about how they’d secure funding for some of their big-budget items. But, like they seem to be doing, we’ll hope for the best.
On voting rights, Impact and Inspire both say they support online voting. An SG Supreme Court decision has prevented the implementation of online voting for students. Inspire would like to see the Supreme Court decision overturned, but its position as the minority party prevented it from passing a constitutional amendment to do so. Impact, on the other hand, has had control over the Senate but has failed to make online voting possible, despite it being common practice in many other universities.
Further on the topic of voting, Impact, as the majority party, has failed to take a leadership role in actively promoting elections on social media, especially Facebook. The SG Facebook page is nearly devoid of any mention of the upcoming elections. When The Alligator asked the Impact Party leaders about this, they didn’t have a reason why, despite controlling a majority of SG.
Some have criticized Inspire for being smaller with a seemingly more unstable voter base. We are cognizant of Inspire’s role as the underdog in the upcoming elections, but we have faith in its future. Inspire is building a voter base, canvassing efficiently and working hard to obtain a Senate majority.
Many of the Senate’s problems stem from a lack of voter turnout, so we hope you, dear readers, head to the polls Tuesday and Wednesday and cast a ballot. It’s the only sure way you can make your voice count.
