Every year, students that are interested in getting involved with Student Government spend hours upon hours campaigning. They create signage, they table, they ask the students of UNF for their votes. In spite of this effort, the percentage of students that actually vote has always been low. In fact, the last two senatorial elections at UNF have been entirely uncontested. 

SG has already tried making it easier for students to vote, introducing a system of online voting, streamlined ballots, and more. These efforts, however, don’t appear to be working. No one is voting.

Student Government President, John Aloszka, has been working with the rest of SG to increase the turn-out on Election Day. To date, President Aloszka has assembled an Ad Hoc committee that made various recommendations to the Office of Elections, and SG has revised two bills that allowed for less restrictive campaigning on campus.

Most recently, President Aloszka announced the release of a new Osprey 1Card. This new card comes with a signature line at the bottom, which would allow students to vote in the 2020 Government Elections using only that card. In theory, this makes voting even easier, as students will not have to provide any other form of ID. 

Students who already have an Osprey 1Card will not be receiving this new card for free, and will need to seek a replacement card (and pay $15) once the new cards arrive in the upcoming months.

In terms of results, we will just have to wait to see whether or not these changes are reflected in the number of students showing up on the next Election Day. 

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