A few days ago, a social media post by Del Mar political science professor Adrian Clark went viral for all the wrong reasons.
The professor allegedly made the following post:
It depends how you read the post, but many are alleging this is plain and simple voter fraud.
When read together, the two sentences make clear that he expects the students to vote for Beto and in exchange they will get extra credit.
That would be voter fraud, to pay for votes with extra credit.
The alternative way to read it is that he was offering extra credit for voting for any candidate, and then simply added his own personal opinion at the end of the message.
Of course, the reason we have rules against things like Professors dating students and other improper interaction is because Professors can yield a lot of undue influence over a student.
Is this one of those cases?
Texas Governor Greg Abbott thinks so, because he just posted this:
Way to go Governor!
The integrity of our elections must be preserved at all costs!
When considering the two possible meanings of the social media post, Twitter user @BarackO'Beto put it this way:
A very well made point!
KRISTTV.com had more on the story:
A viewer sent KRIS 6 News a screen shot of what appears to be a Facebook post from Del Mar political science professor Adrian Clark.
It states: “I am offering extra credit for my students for voting beginning tomorrow! We must show up for Beto to paint Texas blue!”
Claudia Jackson, Del Mar’s executive director of strategic communication and government relations, released a statement on the situation this afternoon. “The College is aware of a post made by an employee on a non-College, social media site offering extra class credit for voting in the upcoming election. The message was not posted on behalf of the College. The College has clarified that no extra credit should be offered or granted for voting in any election.”
“The College takes seriously institutional policy and State law regarding requirements to remain neutral in all partisan political activities, issues, speeches and campaigns. The College and its employees will abide by all state, local, and federal laws regarding public speech, campaigning, and other political activities. Additionally, the College does not comment on internal personnel matters”
So, what do YOU think?
Is this voter fraud?
Join the conversation!
Please share your thoughts about this article below. We value your opinions, and would love to see you add to the discussion!