Tyler Yeargain, a Student Government Senator and Cait and Jarell supporter, filed the affidavit saying SGA Candidates Brian Zagrocki and Alex Bennett violated the election statutes by providing food to attendees at their rally at Buffalo Wild Wings Tuesday.
Yeargain said that he did not attend the rally and received all of his information based on accounts from three students who did, two of which he identified as Benjamin DeStefano and Joshua Burbridge.
“I spoke to each of the three people who did attend the rally; I obtained this evidence from all of their versions of the event. At that point I felt that this needed to be hashed out by the Elections Commission,” said Yeargain.
Section 604.2 of Title VI in the Election Statutes states that, “at no point can a candidate, group of candidates, ticket, or third party (with the exception of the Election Commission) provide food, drinks, or prizes to voters. Such items shall be considered bribes. This rule applies both on and off university controlled property.”
When asked if Yeargain investigated further before filing, he said that he did not speak to Zagrocki or Bennett or any of the attendees. His accusation was based off the accounts of three people who attended the rally, one of which, according to Yeargain, is affiliated with Cait and Jarell’s campaign.
KnightNews.com reached out to Cait Zona, who gave a statement on behalf of the accusation.
“For the accusation on the food violation, if a concern was raised by a student, it is important that the election commission has the opportunity to investigate it. Neither myself or Jarell were present at the event,” said Zona.
Zagrocki’s evidence in response to this accusation was a document signed by the manager at Buffalo Wild Wings stating that Zagrocki and Bennett did not cater the event, and encouraged attendees to purchase food on their own.
In response to the accusation, SGA candidate Richard Stein said, “I personally think this is a ploy used by Cait to mud the waters right before the election. I don’t think Brian did anything wrong, he’s a good guy.”
Knight News was at the rally and reported two people wearing Cait and Jarell t-shirts taking photos of the event.
