Vice President-elect for Student Affairs Stephen Keller has been accused of violating election rules by accepting and distributing fliers on election day without reporting them to the Elections Board. Elliot Spillers, former candidate for vice president for student affairs, filed a complaint with the Elections Board on Wednesday, March 12, after WVUA-FM reported that Keller had received and distributed the fliers.
?“He did say that he was given them the day of the election, he was given these campaign fliers,” Spillers said. “Also, Rich Robinson asked them ‘will they be accounted for on your financial disclosure form,’ and he said ‘no, they will not be.’ But he did pass them out, meaning they were part of his campaigning.”
?The Student Government Elections Manual stipulates that candidates must submit three financial disclosure forms over the course of their campaign verifying all donations received by the specified date. The final financial disclosure form was due Monday, March 10, the day before elections. Madalyn Vaughn, co-chair of the Elections Board, said candidates should not receive any donations after filing their final financial disclosure.
?“You should not be receiving any donations after that last form is due,” Vaughn said. “For example, if someone gave you a banner the day after, the best response from a candidate would be to not accept that banner.”
?According to the manual, a candidate who fails to file any of the financial disclosure reports or who exceeds campaign spending limits will be disqualified. According to Keller’s financial disclosure forms on vote.ua.edu, all three were filed on or before their respective deadlines. Keller’s campaign expenditures totaled $664.49, less than the $800 maximum allowed by election rules.
?However, Vaughn said receiving donations after the deadline for the final financial disclosure form could possibly be grounds for disqualification.
?Spillers also said posters and fliers used by candidates must be approved by the Elections Board ahead of time.
?“You have to verify the materials that you pass out before you go out campaigning,” Spillers said. “The Elections Board has to approve certain fliers and that sort of thing.”
?“We suggest that every candidate, when you’re going to publish buttons or posters or any sort of campaign materials, we suggest you send it to us beforehand, that way we can approve it,” Vaughn said. “The majority of issues we’ve ever had about that would be related to the UA logo and things like that that they wouldn’t be allowed to use, not per our rules, but just per the University’s.”
?However, Vaughn said failing to get material approved beforehand would not be grounds for disciplinary action.
?“It’s definitely not something that would be grounds for disqualification or necessarily sanctions,” Vaughn said. “It’s mostly a suggestion, I would say.”
?The investigation into these allegations is ongoing. Vaughn said the Elections Board will next meet on Tuesday, March 18.
?“We don’t really have any comments at this time about any allegations that have been put forward,” Vaughn said. “It’s still under investigation.”
