The UF Supreme Court announced Tuesday night that an online voting system in Student Government elections would be unconstitutional.
At a Student Senate meeting, Brian Aungst, the court's chief justice, said online voting would interfere with SG's ability to prevent voter coercion.
But members of Students for Online Voting, known as SOLVe, said their battle isn't over, and they would now appeal to UF administrators to make online voting a reality.
About 40 students rallied outside Pugh Hall before the Senate meeting with signs promoting online voting. After the rally was moved indoors due to pounding rain, the protestors took up the first three rows of seats in the meeting.
Sen. Benjamin Cavataro, who represents Hume Hall, motioned to hear the court's decision so senators and visitors could discuss it, but his suggestion was denied by a 55-2 vote.
SOLVe members and supporters said they were disappointed that they didn't have the opportunity to ask questions about the decision after it was announced.
Sen. Michael Ramsey was explained why he voted "nay" to deny the discussion time.
"I come from a farm background, and they really like horses, and one of the things they say a lot is 'nay'," Ramsey said. "So that's my logic."
Benjamin Dictor, an online voting advocate and a political science junior, said senators laughed at SOLVe's efforts.
During the public debate, Dictor told senators that if students can't vote for online voting in February, SOLVe would find a way to make the decision available in the next election.
"The fact of the matter is, this would double voter turnout, and you know this very well - very few of you would be sitting here," he said.
Proponents of online SG voting assert that because it would mobilize a higher number and a more diverse group of voters, parties typically filled with Greek candidates would cease to dominate.
Frank Bracco, Chomp the Vote director and Orange and Blue Party candidate for Student Body vice president, told senators that the 5,683 students who signed a petition to put an online-voting amendment on the SG ballot for elections Feb. 26 and 27 would be disappointed.
"If five individuals can tell 5,700 students their voices do not matter, then something is wrong with this university," Bracco said.
Tommy Jardon, a law student and SOLVe president, said the court had no reason to call the amendment unconstitutional.
"Everything about this was just an act," Jardon said. "The hearing, everything. The court is clearly biased."
He said Aungst couldn't have been impartial because he argued against online voting in 2006 when the court also ruled it unconstitutional because of voter-coercion fears.
Sam Miorelli, SOLVe's executive director and a mechanical engineering junior, called the court's decision "highly politicized."
"There's no room for politics in Supreme Court decisions," Miorelli said.
SG online voting was first proposed in 2004.
In 2005, students collected enough signatures -2 percent of the Student Body - to have an online voting option during elections.
The UF court ruled the petition unconstitutional in 2006.
This time, SOLVe tried to make online voting mandatory, which required a petition signed by 10 percent of the student body.
This is the first time in UF's history an amendment by petition has gotten this far, said Sarah Krantz, SG supervisor of elections. Before Aungst finished reading the decision, online voting supporters walked out of the room. Dictor was one of the students leading the crowd.
"We will not yield until the administration amends the atrocity that has occurred in this hall tonight," Dictor said. "These halls will not rest until we have online voting."
