Student Government elections are about representing students and gaining their perspectives on which issues are most important.
The codes that govern SG elections state that political parties are allowed to be engaged in “campaign activity” four weeks before elections. Campaign activity includes passive actions such as making announcements or electronic posts that students can choose to pay attention to or ignore.
Swamp Party strives toward transparency and effectively conveying its ideas to the students while receiving feedback from every demographic on campus.
Swamp Party announced its candidate for Student Body president, vice president, and treasurer within the four-week campaign activity time and perfectly adheres to campaign codes. The announcement informed students of the candidates’ qualifications.
Swamp Party believes students should be given time to research the candidates and provide feedback on what they would like to see improved on campus, as long as it is within the four-week time period.
All electronic posts and announcements made from Swamp Party have been compliant with the campaign codes and have not expressed any explicit language soliciting votes. Swamp Party’s posts have included an article on past accomplishments and information on how to slate for Senate, in order to inform the Student Body and engage students as much as possible.
Swamp Party is also dedicated to serving its constituents and the entire student body. On Jan. 25, a member of the Students Party filed a complaint against Swamp Party. The Elections Commission notified both parties that the hearing would be held on Sunday night.
On Sunday night, all six commissioners were there, as well as representatives of Swamp Party. No representatives of Students Party were anywhere to be found. The commissioners waited 20 minutes before deciding to postpone the hearing. The Students Party failed to attend the hearing and failed to represent the students it stands for.
This was not the first time the Students Party abandoned its constituents. Over the summer, when a bill about election codes was put in front of the Senate, almost every member of the Students Party fled the chambers before the Senate voted on the legislation. Students Party failed to return to the chamber to vote on other pieces of important legislation.
Swamp Party is dedicated to a fair election and to responsibly representing the students of UF.
Elliot Grasso is the Swamp Party spokesman. You can contact him via opinions@alligator.org.
