With the student government election coming to a close, an unknown culprit has stolen 15 campaign signs from the Elevate party, according to a police report filed by an Elevate party official.
The signs were reported missing by Mitchell King, Elevate vice president candidate, on Wednesday. The signs were valued between $200 and $250, according to Interim Chief of Campus Police Derek Myers.
The alleged theft might be a rare glimpse into the friction between the three parties. What’s more, the student government constitution forbids active campaigning during election week, so Elevate was not allowed to replace their signs, explained Hailey Coleman, election commissioner.
Coleman would not comment directly on the Elevate sign theft, but said it is against the rules to tamper with opponents’ signs.
“It’s really not fair that someone did that,” Coleman said of the theft. “This is an active investigation and will be taken care of.”
She added that breaking student government bylaws could result in a punishment from student government and the dean of students.
United Party of the People vice president candidate Allison Nguyen condemned the theft of the signs.
“I think it was really wrong, and they shouldn’t have done it,” Nguyen said.
Nguyen said campus police asked her party if they stole the signs, and she said she completely understands the reasoning behind asking.
“I don’t think any of my senators did it,” Nguyen said. “Any student could have done it.”
More party vice president candidate Kevyanna Rawls also said she did not like someone tampering with the election, and her party “was not involved in this act.”
“The More party does not support tampering with the merchandise of other parties,” Rawls said. “Honesty is a virtue that we value in the More party. We hope the Elevate party and the election commission is able to get to the bottom of this situation.”
King and Elevate’s candidate for president, Ashton Toone, would not comment on the incident, saying it was an open campus police investigation. Several other members of the party also refused to comment for this story. Myers said campus police is checking footage from security cameras to find the culprit, but they do not yet have conclusive evidence.
A sign for the Elevate party hangs in the University Center. About 15 signs similar to this banner were stolen from areas across campus last week.
