Demanding Early Voting Access for Florida’s Students
Gainesville, Florida has consistently had three early voting locations in the last few elections: one on the southwest side of town, one northwest, and one downtown, at the Supervisor of Elections office. Many longtime residents may consider this an improvement from when the town only had two locations. A somewhat obvious choice for one of these locations, however, has never had the chance — no building at the University of Florida (UF) can be used as a polling site during early voting periods. The University of Florida is home to over 50,000 students, many of them residential, who need adequate voting access.
This is not unique to Gainesville. In Florida, no college or university campus can host any early voting locations. The wording of the statute (FL Statute 101.657) for early voting in Florida explicitly lists types of buildings that can act as polling locations. “Educational facilities” is not listed.
This was all challenged in early 2014, when a group of UF students requested the local Supervisor of Elections to use the Reitz Union, an on-campus facility, as an early voting location. The city of Gainesville looked for approval from the state and found the request ultimately denied due to the statute’s wording.
The statute does allow for one “bonus” site per county, which permits a site otherwise ineligible under the statute to be used as an early voting location should it fulfill needs in an underserved area. City Attorney Nicolle Shalley, stating that the provision “does not apply to Gainesville,” shut this option down.
I reached out to Nicolle Shalley repeatedly in July asking why this “bonus” site provision cannot be used by Gainesville. I never received a response answering the question.
Gainesville is clearly left with a dilemma of accessibility for so many potential student voters. Another portion of the statute demands better placement of early voting locations: “The sites must be geographically located so as to provide all voters in the county an equal opportunity to cast a ballot.”
The closest early voting location to the University of Florida, the Supervisor of Elections office, is an approximately 32-minute walk from campus, one-way. Santa Fe College’s closest is 70 minutes. Buses are options in either case, yet there are still significant portions of walking required from bus stops or significant limitations in busing hours. Persons with disabilities, students with little time between classes, and voters new to and unfamiliar with the town will not find these options useful.
Can we truly say that the county’s early voting sites are geographically providing equal opportunity to all voters in the county?
Some, like Florida Representative Chuck Clemons, say yes. I spoke with him in an effort to achieve bipartisan legislative support for an update to FL Statute 101.657. He responded with the opinion that the responsibility is on the students to work harder in order to have their voices heard. Afterward, he quickly changed the subject.
I wanted to tell him about the shuttles our Vote Everywhere team organized for students to use, for free, to vote at the Supervisor of Elections office in a timely manner. I wanted to bring up the meetings we had with UF administration in order to have UF foot the bill for the shuttles. (They did, establishing the first ever “official” investment by the school in providing access to early voting for students.) I wanted to tell him about the time and money expended, about how many students signed up for election reminders and voter information updates, and about UF’s uniquely high voter turnout in 2016.
According to the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement (NSLVE), UF had a high voter turnout of 64.2 percent in 2016, beating out the national average. We have taken the initiative to show up and speak out, to have our voices heard.
I wanted him to know that the students have already taken that responsibility, which is why I was talking to him in the first place.
Still, there is another nonpartisan concern: home rule.
Why can Supervisors of Elections not at least consider using colleges and universities as early voting locations? Why is the statewide law so strict that local communities are not able to decide for themselves what locations may be appropriate for early voting?
Is anyone listening? Don’t our votes matter?
FL Statute 101.657 needs an update to give more power back to local Supervisors of Elections while addressing the needs of over 800,000 potential voters in the Florida public higher education system. The change is minor in detail, massive in effect, and common-sense in nature: allow public colleges and universities to be early voting locations. If there is any concern that such legislation may not pass, I assure that I will be present in Tallahassee defending the bill in every committee, on the floor, and in the offices of our representatives.
I invite you to contact your representatives and start a conversation about voting accessibility in Florida. Ask them to sponsor a bill updating the statute to empower local communities. Let them know that student voters across the state are taking the responsibility to have their voices heard and are demanding equal accessibility to early voting.
