No polling places on UF campus, and thus starts the battle for the right to vote in the 2014 election

In 2012, University of Florida students endured six-hour waits to vote on election day. The city of Gainesville’s requested to be allowed to use the University of Florida student union building as an early voting site. The Florida Division of Elections rejected the request. This is the opinion that was issued:

January 17, 2014

Nicolle M . Shalley City Attorney,
City of Gainesville
200 East University A venue, Suite 425
Gainesville, Florida 32601

RE: DE 14-01 Early Voting -Facilities, Locations -§ 101.657, Florida Statutes

Dear Ms. Shalley :
As city attorney for the City of Gainesville and on behalf of the Gainesville City Commission, you have asked for a formal opinion to answer the following question:

Does the J. Wayne Reitz Union on the University of Florida campus constitute a government-owned community center or a convention center for purposes of early voting under section 101.657, Florida Statutes (2013)?

While the city of Gainesville has elected to delegate its responsibility to administer the municipal election scheduled for March 11 , 2014, to the county supervisor of elections, it has retained its authority to designate early voting sites. Therefore, because this answer will assist the municipality in its election-related duties, the Division is required to issue an opinion pursuant to section 106.23(2), Florida Statutes (2013).

Florida law regulates the times and places at which early voting may be held. While supervisors of elections are required to allow early voting in the main or branch office of the supervisor, they are limited as to which other locations they may choose for additional sites .

Prior to 2013, the Florida Election Code2 allowed supervisors to designate only city halls or permanent public library facilities as additional early voting sites. In 2013, the Florida Legislature expanded the options to include fairgrounds, civic centers, courthouses, county commission buildings, stadiums, government-owned senior centers, convention centers, and government-owned community centers.

However, the Legislature considered and rejected several bills, as well as an amendment to House Bill 7013, that specifically proposed the addition of educational facilities as optional early voting sites before the final version of the bill was passed.

The Reitz Union is a structure designed for, and affiliated with, a specific educational institution. It is a part of the University of Florida. The terms “convention center” and “government-owned community center” cannot be construed so broadly as to include the Reitz Union or any other college- or university-related facilities that were rejected by the Legislature as additional early voting sites .

SUMMARY
The 1. Wayne Reitz Union on the University of Florida campus does not constitute a “government-owned community center” or “convention center” for purposes of early voting under section 101.657, Florida Statutes (2013).

Respectfully,
Mana I. Matthews, Esq.
Director, Division of Elections

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Florida Executive Director Howard Simon commented on the decision:

“Welcome to the start of the 2014 election, as we now have the first of what will likely be many efforts by the Scott administration to manipulate the vote and make participating in our democracy harder for the Floridians whose voices they feel shouldn’t be heard. How is a student union building any different from a library or other government building serving a community, especially since the UF student union already satisfies the requirements to serve as a polling place on election day? The decision by the Secretary of State’s office that a student union at a state university is somehow not a ‘government-owned community center’ is a transparently political interpretation of the law intended to make it harder for students to vote.

“The ACLU of Florida brought several lawsuits to stop voter suppression efforts by this administration in the lead-up to the 2012 election, and we are already looking into whether this attack on the voting rights of University of Florida students can also be challenged.”

House Democratic Leader Perry Thurston (D-Fort Lauderdale) issued this statement: “Governor Scott and state elections officials seem once again to be trying to suppress the vote of university students and other Floridians. I urge him to stop laying roadblocks to voting. The governor should do more to encourage, not discourage, voting among young people who are interested and engaged citizens.”