UF’s Elections Commission heard nine out of 48 complaints from Impact Party, Access Party and UF’s Supervisor of Elections on Friday morning.
With four members present, the commission listened to representatives from Access and Impact debate complaints about violations of election codes during the Spring 2016 Student Government election cycle.
The two parties bickered about a complaint Impact submitted against Access regarding the “Not My System” video, which was posted to Facebook on Feb. 14.
Impact campaign manager Blake Murphy argued Sabrina Philipp, who led the Not My System movement, is affiliated with Access.
Murphy said Philipp appeared in a picture with Access members at an event, which he presented. He said he wanted Access to take responsibility for the video and take it down.
“I think it sets a very dangerous precedent that any party member can go outside the official page and make some sort of shell page,” Murphy said.
Access Party President Praveen Varanasi disagreed.
“You shouldn’t be stifling free speech,” Varanasi said. “The fact that she is asking us questions means she’s calling out Student Government as a whole.”
The commission unanimously decided Philipp was an affiliate of Access, but they couldn’t ask her to take down the video because it wasn’t their place.
A written statement saying she broke election codes was issued against Philipp for not registering campaign materials with the Supervisor of Elections. It will be posted on SG’s website.
All complaints submitted by Access were dismissed.
Contact Melissa Gomez at mgomez@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter @MelissaGomez004.
