Yesterday, Bwog received a tip that some first year students received emails from the Columbia Elections Board in regards to a rules violation on behalf of the CCSC 2017 winners. This email is a response to candidates sending out unsolicited emails to fellow students asking for their vote. Addressed on page 2 of the CCSC Elections Packet, “sending unsolicited mass emails to students not known by the candidate is prohibited.” Continued on page 3, “unsolicited mass emails are prohibited.  A message is unsolicited if the recipient did not initiate the communication.”

The Columbia Elections Board is further looking into whether or not the emails sent by the CCSC 2017 winners were unsolicited; if so, they would have clearly violated the rules. Here is a copy of the email sent by Columbia Elections Board to select students:

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We were also curious what the rules are in regards to Facebook messaging. One Bwogger said that he had received about 50 messages from candidates asking him to vote. According to a source, there are not nearly as many restrictions regarding what candidates can do via social media, so the Facebook messages were probably legal.