"[Burton] essentially stole the buttons from the BGLTSA. That does not seem okay to me," said former council vice president Kamil E. Redmond '00, who endorsed Burton in last month's campaign.

And yesterday, council member David B. Orr '01, who was one of Driskell-Burton's most senior campaign workers, called for Burton's resignation.

"I think that this represents an extremely serious ethical violation," Orr said. "The best scenario is for Fentrice to serve out her term as president and for John to resign."

But Burton said he will serve out his term no matter the scandal's outcome.

"It could be the end of the world, and I would not resign. We are moving on, and I'm confident that we will be able to pull the council with us," he said.

An election commission composed of both council and non-council members makes sure that candidates do not overspend a $100 per ticket limit. The commission first questioned the buttons' origins last month while investigating charges that the Driskell-Burton ticket had overspent its limit.

Burton claimed then that the buttons were a freely available resource that he, along with any other undergraduate or council candidate, could take.

Election commission member Andre V. Moura '03 said the group did not question Burton's explanation of how he acquired the buttons during this initial inquiry.