This past Election Day was an eventful one as police officers reported to Skidmore’s polling station located in the Intercultural Center (ICC) in Case. In an attempt to bring students to the polls, Skidmore Democrats posted on Instagram and sent an email advertising pizza to anyone coming to vote. The incident, dubbed “Pizzagate” by students, raised questions as to whether there was a violation of election laws. In response, police officers, as well as a Sergeant and Lieutenant, arrived at the ICC around 8 p.m.
It is currently unknown who notified the police. But students, including Maggie Bernstein ‘20, witnessed the event upon arriving to vote. Bernstein explained, “When I arrived at 8:30 to vote there were two uniformed police officers also arriving to the ICC. By the time I was done voting, roughly six more officers had arrived, along with what seemed to be two or three higher up investigators in suits.”
In a written comment to The Skidmore News, the president of Skidmore Democrats, Christopher Kalleja ’22, called the post “an honest mistake” that “was blown way out of proportion.”
Police officers showed up to the polling place after being notified of a possible violation of election laws. Skidmore Democrats were suspected of breaking a New York State law relating to their incentive to increase poll attendance. However, Kalleja emphasized no wrongdoing on the part of the Skidmore Democrats, citing a bribe, according to the law, being any item over a dollar. A slice of pizza narrowly avoided this margin with an individual cost of 94 cents.
According to the 2019 New York State Election Laws and Rules, article 17-140 supports the exception of provisions under a dollar. Therefore, the pizza was not a violation of election law.
Before the publication of this article David Solovy, the president of Skidmore College Republicans, did not respond to requests for a comment on his perspective of this situation.
The right-leaning Facebook group, Moving Saratoga Forward, posted about the incident, claiming it was not only illegal but also possibly driven by members of the Saratoga Democratic Committee. Sarah Burger, the city chair for the Saratoga Democrats, did not respond to requests for comment before the publication of this article.
Matthew Bergreen ‘20, a Skidmore student who volunteered for candidate Dillon Moran, stated that the Saratoga Democratic Committee discussed what happened at their most recent meeting and neither condone nor support what occurred. He also rejected claims that any Skidmore votes were not counted.
Skidmore is recognized often as leaning liberal, and has historically had many more Democratic voters than Republican ones, resulting in questions, mainly from conservative Saratoga residents, surrounding the validity of a voting booth on campus.
Jennifer Natyzak, the Sustainability Coordinator for Student Programming, believes that students having the right to vote is “utterly justified, as Skidmore as an institution has a significant influence in Saratoga.” It remains unclear what will happen to future polling stations.
Although no election laws were broken there remains an issue in voter turnout. Both Bergreen and Natyzak cited was the lack of student voting on campus. They encourage students to get more involved with local politics and in the local community as a whole.
Even if students are not registered to vote in Saratoga, there are many ways to form a bond with the community — through internships or volunteering with organizations and political committees in town.