UF students have seven options of polling locations to cast their votes to decide who will fill the 50 available Student Government Senate seats. Voting will take place Sept. 28 and 29 from 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
The three parties participating in this election are Change, Gator and Communist. Three independent candidates will also appear on the ballot.
Gator Party holds a majority in the Senate with more than 60 senators. It has held the majority since Spring 2020. Change Party ran for the first time in the Spring, when it merged with Union Party. Communist Party ran last Fall as the Progressive Party before rebranding. All parties have released their platforms.
To cast a vote, students need to show their Gator 1 card or photo ID, as long as they know their UF ID number, so poll workers can verify each student is cleared to vote. Supervisor of Elections Alexandra Stedman did not clarify what clears a student to vote.
All voting aside from absentee ballots will take place in person, as SG does not allow online voting in its codes, said Stedman. Online voting has been illegal in SG since 2006 after the UF Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional.
Absentee ballots must have been postmarked by Sept. 24, Stedman said. Included in absentee ballots is a stamped return envelope that students could use to send it.
Students will vote on 50 senators elected for one-year terms to represent their respective districts. There are no petitions set to appear on the ballot, and there is no early voting, Stedman said.
Votes are cast based on each student’s residential information, on or off campus. Students living in residential halls vote by their hall, while those off campus vote by zip code.
The polling locations include the Reitz Union Computer Printing Lab, the Health Science Center Library, the Norman Hall Educational Library, the Southwest Recreation Center Social Lounge, the Springs Library and Recreation Room and Stuzin Hall room 200.
There were originally 11 polling locations, an increase from the six polling locations for the Spring election. But due to scheduling issues, the number of polling locations decreased from 11 to seven, Stedman said. She didn’t clarify what the issues were.
Contact Allessandra Inzinna at ainzinna@alligator.org. Follow her on Twitter @ainzinna.
Allessandra is a third-year journalism major with a minor in English. In the past, she has covered local musicians and the cannabis industry. She is now the Student Government reporter for The Alligator. Allessandra paints and plays guitar in her free time.
