By Emily Wunderlich and Whitney Elfstrom
Student body presidential candidate Mariah McQueen said that she was denied “due process” in the Election Rules Commission’s decision to disqualify her from the upcoming election.
In an email addressed to Shannon Scanlon, Student Government’s supervisor of elections, McQueen said she plans to plead her case to SG’s judicial branch.
On Monday, the rules commission unanimously voted to disqualify McQueen and running mate Samantha Fiore for violating a campaign rule that states that “knowingly providing false information to the Student Government, the Elections Rules Commission, or Supreme Court” is a “major violation.”
In her email McQueen said, “As repeated multiple times, the commission has violated many of their own rules in order to conduct this witch hunt and alter the integrity of our elections. Now we will have to take to the court to seek resolution.”
McQueen also stated in the email that she filed a public records request for all documents related to her case from senate president Emilie Morris.
“I don’t think this should be a battle of ethics, I think this should be a battle of candidacy,” McQueen said Monday night in a phone interview with The Crow’s Nest. “I’d rather be defending my school right now rather than having to defend myself.”
McQueen is at the forefront of student opposition to House Bill 423, the proposal to end USF St. Petersburg’s separate accreditation. Her petition against the bill has 130 signatures.
This is a developing story.
Header photo courtesy of the University of South Florida
