The Case Against Online Voting
Every time it has been attempted, computerized voting has caused many of the problems that Joel Howell, myself, and others predicted back in the Summer of 2001, when the debate over online voting first began.
Ironically, the smoothest ride for computerized voting has been the first, Fall 2001, when they converted just one precinct (the Hub) into a computerized voting location.
This semester is no different. What amazes me the most is that Accelerated Data Networks has been trying to win SG over with a lucrative electronic voting contract, and 5 years into the effort, they have yet to prove the system is as smooth-running as the outdated paper ballots.
The most striking problem this time, however, has nothing to do with the computerized portion. (Aside from poorly trained volunteers trying to link to the wrong website, causing delays with voting, which would be solved if UF went to full online voting.)
The biggest problem is with the paper ballots as substitutes. The Supervisor of Elections apparently didn’t think to include the question of online voting on anything but the online ballots! That is just plain stupid, considering that, aside from President and Treasurer, the initiative is the only other thing needed on each and every ballot. It doesn’t take rocket science or even political science to know that a campus-wide initiative that appears on the electronic ballots should also appear on the paper substitutes.
If the initiative fails, the proponents have a very good cause of action against the Supervisor of Elections.
(And this is before we are sure whether people are being given the wrong ballots, as occured last fall.)
There is one bright spot (aside from the weather being considerably better than DC’s). Turnout was way above my expectations – 5,119 voters on the first day is spectacular. You usually expect Tuesday, with fewer classes, to be a lighter turnout, and usually is to the tune of about 1,000 students fewer than Wednesday, perhaps more. So, if history holds, this means as many as 11,000 students may vote before it is all over.
If that’s the case, then we’re looking at Access Party levels of turnout. And that can’t be good for the Swamp Party.
Ok tonight is the Duke/FSU game, but i don’t have a ticket. My friends were supposed to get me one but failed. So i guess i will be at home studying and watching Drawn Together, which means i will be able to check the live blogging. I wish i could be at the orange and brew myself to see the results, but i have a judical seminar with Judge Padavano in the evening and work and class in the morning, so no two hour drives for me.
This sounds like it was one fun election. Like we have to see how many people turn out today? If Unite can keep the momentum up? If people realize that Unite, even though it has greeks on board, is technically the nonsystem party? If nongreeks vote for john and lydia because they are nongreek? If Susan really does get a lot of votes? If we see some funniness in the traditional SG voting blocs. Lots of questions, and i guess tonight the UF Political people get answers.
What really makes a person non-system? He has actively courted Greek votes, he has actively wanted the FBK endorsement, has actively done everything that an FBK candidate does, what’s the difference if he has the seal of approval or not…
If smells like a duck, looks like a duck, and acts like a duck it is a duck, it is not a elephant… but this does have some upset written on it considering the early high vote totals
I guess the important thing for most people is that Jared, when he didn’t get the FBK endorsement, embraced the progressive/opposition party and they embraced him. It was a coalition of the convenient for both sides. It’s happened before (Ian Lane in 2000, Nikki Fried in 2001 before getting FBK’s support in 2002 was on the SUN side, Jamal to an extent in 2004, etc.).
What I’m amazed of the most is seeing all of today’s independents, like Christian Duque and others, whine and complain about the Unite ticket. To be honest, we would have killed for a ticket like Unite’s back in 2000-2002 (and we got one with SUN).
We have to make choices in order to win, and Jared and the Independents decided working together made more sense than repeating the opposition implosion that Progress and Impact engendered in 2005.
We’ll see if they are successful.
But independents should also be happy that John a non Greek, Lyndia, a non-Greek are the head of the ticket… Why aren’t people (indies) happy about that? We complain for years that the Greeks won’t let anyone else play, and when they do let the independents play you still complain? That seems just like politics instead of actually caring whther the Greeks let people play or not.
I think Gatorman that indies don’t like nongreeks at the top of the greek ticket because they just see them as greek puppets. Look at the facebook pics of those supporting the swamp party. That is what makes an indie an indie, being fiercely independent. I voted yesterday and am not going to class today, how does the campaign look?
I think most indies see nongreeks at the top of the greek ticket as puppets of the greeks. Like to be a nongreek who gets ahead with the greeks, you have to be their kind of nongreek. Thats what makes an indie an indie, they do whatever they want to, consequences be darned. How does the campaign today look, i voted yesterday but am not coming back to campus today.
Being an independent isn’t just about keeping the Greeks from owning everything, it’s a statement about the kind of SG you are willing to lead – one without a system of pre-determined positions and lock-step partisanship.
You can very easily be an Independent at UF and be completely dismayed by John Boyles and his candidacy. I don’t know John, so I don’t have an opinion on him, but just because he is the first non-Greek to be backed by FBK since 1998 doesn’t mean the Independents will give up their beliefs to see him win.
Being Independent isn’t about being anti-Greek.
At least, that’s not the core of the ideology.
But you miss the larger argument, that indies complain for days on end (even you just did that the system keeps good people down) that is not as some would say a meritocracy… Well, the Greeks have put the most qualified people up (Senate President and a girl with loads of cabinet experience) yet you would still say that they don’t care… Doesn’t that show different, hasn’t the system rewarded the good and hard working…
also can wee please stop the crap that says the indies don’t promise positions, I have seen it, I know they do, and the houses that came over to Jared aren’t coming over because they hate the system, they stayed in the system for years for a reason, they hate it right now, because they aren’t getting a big enough piece of the pie.
Well, if you noticed before, I’m not saying Unite is an Independent party in the same sort of vein that Impact (fall 2005) tried to be. It does have rebel Greeks on board with a particular grievance. (This includes Jared, whose grievance is that he thinks he’s the best fit to be President.)
There are 4 distinct groups within UF that tried to play the game. (FBK, rebel Greeks, non-Greeks, and Independents.) Two other groups – swingable constituencies like minorities and personal friends/contacts – are too variable to use in a broad view of SG history.
Frankly, Lydia is a good pick and I’ve not commented on the VP race for that reason and the fact that rarely does a VP matter (last time I know it did was Access and Jen Puckett, and before that was Jamal with Ignite).
As far as John goes, he got to run for President pretty much because the only people the System picks to be their candidate are people they picked to run for Senate President or Treasurer. (Nikki being the only notable exception.) He may have earned his keep in the System when Access redivided into its component parts through merit, but he wasn’t given the candidacy because of anything other than the System had no one else in line that fit their typical idea of a Presidential candidate.
The Independents want qualified people to hold positions, but they also see value in experience that isn’t just SG. Independent parties in the past have picked Law College Council Presidents, BSU Treasurers, IRHA Presidents, and even a Pride Student Union treasurer as their executive tickets. You really don’t see that much of that on the other side – most nominees have Greek and SG experience, and maybe a little extra to add personality.
And most of all, as much as Independents want a diverse, qualified group of people, they aren’t going to be convinced that have a qualified President and Vice President means that the rest of the Cabinet will be equally good.
But you know what, we’ll see in a few hours if the voters look solely at one’s Greek affiliations or lack thereof, or whether they look at the kind of leadership and experience the candidates bring to the table. And then we’ll immediately begin talking of Josh Weiss vs. Lola Bovell, or Ryan Mosely vs. Ryan Nelson, or whatever 2006 sets up for 2007.
Election results are available at http://www.susan4treasurer.com
Well Ken what an interesting election, i finally got to look at the blogs and the papers. I wanted to respond one last time to something Christian Duque wrote.
Christian said that if he had a voice meeting at UF and 8 people showed up that Ken and I would laugh. Dude, Ken I lived through the heart break of voice when we had meetings and only 4 people showed up (myself and Ken included). Why would we laugh? As much as some people saw you as a joke, how do you think they saw me and Ken? I was seen as a joke for years. Why would i ever laugh at the little guy? I was you!
Yes I may have my opinions that differ from yours, but those are my opinions. Also I will say this about the Unite side, everybody sitting in the sidelines thinks they know best. Or that they could do this better. Or that they have the magic formula that could have restored them to vicotry. I know one thing, I surely don’t. I have been gone from UF for 1 and a half years. I have a limited knowledge of how the demographics work. Like my playbook for running UF SG campaigns comes from 2000-2004. And we are in 2006.
Bottom line congrats to the Swamp kids, and Go Lola!
To be fair, James, most of those 4-person meetings were early on when it was mostly a funny idea between you, me, and Nick – before SUN sat out that election.
But yes, that election helped us in many ways, including the enjoyment I got from Jeremy (et.al.) underestimating the kind of knowledgeable respect we had gained in the Senate despite our election defeat.