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Thursday, March 28, 2024

The Students Party has taken an email to UF’s administration it believes may have broken Student Government codes and possibly state laws.

The email in question was sent by Leah Miller, a liaison between the Swamp Party and its fraternity house representatives for the upcoming SG election. It asks the 25 representatives to collect “I Voted” stickers from everyone in their rosters and supply the party with a $250 check.

But UF’s administration said the email is not under its purview.

Because she didn’t think it violated state laws or the Student Code of Conduct, Dean of Students and Associate Vice President of Student Affairs Jen Day Shaw said she referred the Students Party to take the complaint to the Election Commission.

An anonymous Alligator source who received the email said it was the first of its kind. The source said collecting stickers is ineffective — especially because brothers collect more stickers to cover for those who don’t vote.

“What your job is, is to collect the ‘I Voted’ stickers from everyone in your organization until you reach 100% if not more than that,” the email reads.

The source said his fraternity’s house had more than 100 percent of the sticker board filled last semester.

“They push you until you get everyone to vote,” he said.

The source confirmed every house has to give $250. The email said, “It is done every semester so this is nothing new, your treasurers should have no problem cutting this.”

The source said there is a silent minority in the houses that doesn’t support the Swamp Party.

“I don’t think anyone wants to act against it,” he said. “So they just go with the flow.”

Swamp Party spokesman Elliot Grasso initially said he hadn’t heard about the email and later did not return messages for comment.

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As of press time, the Students Party had not filed a complaint with the Elections Commission.

Grier Ferguson, a Students Party spokeswoman, said she wants the administration to further investigate the email and its implications on the election.

“We do have higher authorities who govern over us,” she said. “And sometimes they need to step in.”

Since the email has been brought to the attention of the administration, the source said all email and text communication has been stopped.

“They know what they’re doing isn’t right, which is why they are trying to cover it up,” the source said.

The email’s final lines read: “DELETE THIS AFTER YOU GET THE INFORMATION!! WE CANT HAVE ANYTHING ON RECORD! Sketchy, but do it! Thanks!”

Staff writer Julia Glum contributed to this report. Contact the writers at sshavell@alligator.org, cwright@alligator.org and jglum@alligator.org.

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