Students

University of Alabama Sorority Supposedly Offered Free Drinks to Members Who Voted in School Board Elections

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A University of Alabama (UA) sorority may have bribed its members to vote in the recent school board elections, as indicated by an email obtained by AL.com.

The email stated any Chi Omega members who voted had an incentive in it for them. It was sent from a ranking member to sorority members in District four and reportedly told them to vote for Cason Kirby and Lee Garrison.

The incentives were a limousine transport to the polls, one free drink at two downtown Tuscaloosa bars, points towards UA's Panhellenic and points toward Chi Omega's internal point system.

Kirby edged out Kelly Horowitz for a District four seat and Garrison beat Denise Hills for board chair, both by slim margins.

The email read: (punctuation and capitalization left alone).

"In a list that was e-mailed to me this weekend, y'all are the only [members] registered in the specific district that are allowed to vote," the email states. "Cason Kirby, a past SGA president of the University of Alabama is running for the City Board of Education, and Lee Garrison a UA Alum is also running."

"They would really appreciate/need your vote to win this election. It's going to be really tight, and it is SO IMPORTANT that they get the Greek Vote. I told both of them that I would do my best to make sure that I got every Chi O that was registered to the polls. There is a big incentive for you going as well!!"

Kirby was a former UA student government association president, while Garrison was also a graduate of the school. Hills and Horowitz mummed on the report of incentives, but said they would like to know more.

"If it is true -- and I don't know that it is -- that any group was essentially being bribed to vote, I don't think that's right, regardless of who they were being told to vote for," Hill told the Tuscaloosa News.

Horowitz said he was looking out for any laws that may have been broken.

"One of the reasons I'm looking at all the legal implications is not about changing the election outcome," Horwitz told the outlet. "I'm all about good government... From what I've looked at, it looks like there's serious questions about whether the law was broken... Illegalities in elections can't go on in the future. It's not a prank, it's criminal activity."

Garrison did not comment publically on the report, but Kirby denied any involvement to MVTM-TV.

"I don't know any of the facts surrounding anything. But I will say again what I said earlier in the week that my campaign has been working hard, he said. "We were committed to winning. But we were too committed fairly and I think that's what we did."

UA's Chi Omega chapter did not publically comment either, but the school released a statement.

"We will continue to emphasize to our students that voting is a serious responsibility that must not be taken lightly," the statement read. "Students who are found to have violated the Student Code of Conduct will be referred to the Office of Student Conduct."

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