UF students lined up at polling stations early Tuesday to shape the future of campus life by selecting which party will lead Student Government for the next year.
Vision, Change and Watch Party spent the beginning of the Spring semester unspooling their plans to rebuild DEI initiatives on campus, remedy food insecurity and affordable housing issues and reform elections to ensure transparency and accountability. Now, students have the chance to decide who will fill 50 seats in the student senate representing various colleges, in addition to executive positions like student body president.
Polls are open from 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday at:
- Reitz Union Print Lab
- Norman Hall Education Library
- Health Science Center Library
- Heavener Hall
- Law School Library
- Southwest Recreation Center
- Keys Complex
- Cypress Hall
Election results will be announced late Wednesday after polls close at 8:30 p.m.
Live updates:
Norman Hall, 3:04 p.m.
Ethan Beck, a 22-year-old UF finance senior, said he voted for Vision because his friend, Michael Papa, is running to represent the School of Business.
“He’s only a freshman, and he’s getting really involved around campus,” he said. “I think he’ll do a great job in the senate.”
As he pointed to the piles of bricks and exposed wiring in Norman’s courtyard, Beck said the most pressing issue to him is construction on campus.
Norman Hall’s century-old oak tree collapsed during Hurricane Helene, leaving much of the courtyard demolished.
Presently, little work has been done to clean the courtyard after the tree was removed.
– Sara-James Ranta
Norman Hall, 2:30 p.m.
Mia Olivares, an 18-year-old UF health science freshman, said she voted for Vision because of its publicity around campus, and said it did “a great job at getting their name around.”
Olivares said she believes it’s important for students to vote because some of their tuition money will be used by student government.
“Researching where you want that money to go is the best piece of advice I can give anyone,” she said.
– Sara-James Ranta
Norman Library, 2:07 p.m.
Zoe Obi, a 20-year-old UF media and societies major, is voting for the first time. She said she’s frustrated with Marston Science Library reverting back to a 24/5 model last Fall, insufficient funding for non-Greek life students and the university’s funding cuts for the Gainesville Regional Transit system. Obi said she most aligns with Change Party’s policy platform and plans to vote for it.
“I need RTS to be better so badly, not only for us on campus but for so many people around us in Gainesville,” she said. “People need transportation more than people need ski trips and date functions.”
– Olivia Shehadi
Norman Library, 1:52 p.m.
Claire Hoover, a UF behavioral and cognitive neuroscience senior, said she voted for Vision Party because her sorority required her to. As a transfer student, Hoover said she isn’t familiar with student government parties’ platforms.
“It’s kind of all foreign to me,” she said.
– Olivia Shehadi
Reitz Union, 1:48 p.m.
Theo Jaffee, a 20-year-old UF computer science sophomore, voted for Change candidates but said he dislikes shared policy goals between the two major parties, like “woke DEI” initiatives.
“But I dislike even more incompetence and nepotism,” he said, referring to Vision Party. “I didn’t really want to vote for either of them. …[but] I decided that you have to vote for Change to send a signal that even if you don’t love everything about them, they are better than the alternative.”
– Michael Angee
Reitz Union, 1:46 p.m.
Former Change senator Hunter Monson, a 21-year-old criminology and history senior, said he planned to cast a “mixed vote” ballot for Change and Vision candidates.
“I believe a split vote is not bad here,” Monson said. “I wish each side a good and fun and ethical election that there’s little to no backlash on each side.”
– Michael Angee
Reitz Union, 1:36 p.m.
Andrea Devesa, a 19-year-old UF English and theater double major, voted for Andrew Larsen, Change Party’s candidate to represent the College of the Arts in the student senate.
“I like a lot of things Change Party stands for. I like a lot of his ideas, specifically for the College of the Arts,” Devesa said. “I know him personally and I think he’s very responsible and a kind representative.”
– Michael Angee
Reitz Union, 1:00 p.m.
Gina DiGiovanni, a 21-year-old music education voice junior, said she voted for independent candidate Michael Lim because he’s already done a lot of fantastic work with the College of the Arts.
“He raised money solo to get us the funding to put on an entire opera,” DiGiovanni said. “He’s really been advocating for us big time.”
DiGiovanni’s friend, Vanessa Esposito, agreed. The 21-year-old music education voice junior said she voted for Lim because she admired his character and work ethic.
“I’ve known Michael since we were like, 12,” Esposito said. “We go way back. I know that he's just a really ambitious and hard-working person. If he has a goal, he will get that goal.”
One of Esposito’s favorite proposals of Lim’s is a plan to construct a bench by the School of Music building.
“I would kill for that bench,” she said.
Esposito also referenced Lim’s Instagram post on Feb. 23, in which he explained his decision to leave Change Party. In the post, Lim said Change officials had directed “nasty” comments at him and he believes party leaders view rank-and-file members as “tools.”
“He's gonna do wonderful being on his own now,” she said. “He took all the good things; he left all the bad behind. He's just like the new, better version of Change Party.”
– Annie Wang
Reitz Union, 12:48 p.m.
Melea Griffin said she decided on voting for Change’s student body president candidate Anamika Naidu after speaking with her at Turlington Plaza. The 20-year-old UF business management sophomore said she was won over by Naidu’s proposals to reinstate Marston Science Library’s 24/7 model and cut investments in the ACCENT Speakers Bureau.
“We’re putting a lot of money into it, and not that many people go [to ACCENT events],” Griffin said.
Griffin’s friend Tyeisha Johnson, a 21-year-old UF computer science sophomore, voted for Naidu for similar reasons. Johnson, however, also voted for Vision Party candidates because of one of their proposals to install Python on all library computers, which she said would help a lot of computer science students.
“As a freshman, I struggled a lot with getting Python on my computer, and it took up a lot of space,” Johnson said. “If it was on the school computers, I would be there literally every single day.”
– Annie Wang
Cypress Hall, 12:45 p.m.
According to Supervisor of Elections Lexi Sederopoulos, the polling station at Cypress Hall was briefly shut down from 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. this morning. Voters were directed to other polling stations but the system is now operating again, she said.
– Michael Angee
Reitz Union, 10:57 a.m.
Nineteen-year-old UF health education and behavior sophomore Chelsea Carrasco said she didn’t vote last year but plans to make her voice heard this semester. Carrasco, who aligns most with Change Party, said she’s already seen the tangible impacts of student government legislation. But she isn’t a big fan of the campaigning.
“I try to avoid Turlington and the Reitz during voting season, and I like to do my own research,” she said. “It’s just overwhelming when they come up to you [and] you’re already late to class.”
Carrasco said she and her friends take the process seriously and research each party platform extensively before casting their votes, adding that it’s frustrating to hear people who aren’t politically engaged complain about UF policies.
“A lot of university students have huge qualms with the University of Florida, especially in the last two years,” she said. “There’s been some major changes, and a lot of those changes can be traced back to student government.”
– Natalie Kaufman
Reitz Union, 10:53 a.m.
Janie Huai, a 21-year-old UF biology junior, said she’s never voted for student government and isn’t sure she will this semester. Huai said she finds Vision and Change campaigners annoying, which repels her from participating in elections.
“I just feel like they [push] so much information onto someone just kind of randomly,” she said.
Student government decisions haven’t yet directly affected her campus life, so she’s not convinced voting will make much of a difference, Huai added.
– Natalie Kaufman
Reitz Union, 10:41 a.m.
Twenty-year-old UF biology sophomore Dakota Newsom, who isn’t planning to vote, said she doesn’t pay attention to student government because she’s too busy juggling challenging coursework and studying. She said campaigners can be pushy and bombarding, so she tries to ignore them when they approach her on campus.
“I think it’s important; I just don’t have the energy or the time to put the effort in,” she said.
– Natalie Kaufman
Reitz Union, 10:33 a.m.
Amaana Quadir, an 18-year-old UF political science freshman, said she’s not sure yet how she’s voting. Although she knows a lot of people running for Vision Party positions, that won’t necessarily influence her decision, she said. She plans to scour Change and Vision party platforms online before casting their ballots, but if she can’t find a compelling reason to vote for Change, she’ll back her friends.
“In the absence of I want this or [that], I would vote for someone I know and support,” she said.
– Natalie Kaufman
This is an Alligator staff report.
