If you will be unable to make it to the polls on Feb. 28 or March 1 — because you’re studying abroad or at a satellite campus, or for any other reason — you can still vote by absentee ballot.

However, the deadline to request an absentee ballot is today. You can download the application via this link. Be sure to turn it in on the 3rd floor of the Reitz Union before 5 pm today. You can also email the form to elections@sg.ufl.edu or fax it to (352) 392-8072.

If I can interject a bit of commentary: This process sucks. I guess it’s better than nothing to be able to email the application — a student abroad would have a hell of a time coming to the Reitz Union to turn in the application or faxing to another country. But it’s not enough.

Online voting is a better path. Online voting will allow students to vote from anywhere in the world, no absentee ballot required. UF students deserve online voting.

Here’s a great article on online voting from 2003 in The Chronicle of Higher Education. It quotes Brian D. Namey, the student body president at Carnegie Mellon University:

When few students voted, he says, he could sweep an election by going to a few major student organizations — “the college equivalent of special interests,” he says — and getting pledges of support.

“But the more people vote, the more uninformed voters are going to be in the system, and it was our challenge to educate the voters,” he says. After running hard against four other candidates, Mr. Namey won the presidency with 52 percent of the vote. “I really had to pound the pavement,” he says. “The possibility of being removed from office contributes to a better campaign.”

So online voting breaks the “special interest” strangehold of a few large organizations, encourages participation, and leads to better government? Hmm. I wonder why the incumbents don’t support it?

I’m happy to say you’ll find online voting and other good ideas in the Unite Party platform.