The Board of Elections voted unanimously Wednesday to certify the results of Tuesday’s student body president election, silencing claims that issues with the voting website swayed the election’s outcome.
Calvin Lewis edged out Tim Longest for second place and a spot in next week’s runoff election by just four votes Tuesday amid complaints by students that glitches on studentlife.unc.edu kept them from casting a ballot.
Shruthi Sundaram, chairwoman of the board, said the board did everything possible to ensure that students mistakenly placed in the wrong district could vote.
“We did what we could in making sure people had a second, third and fourth outlet” to vote, she said in the board’s Wednesday meeting. “At no point was somebody saying (the website) was your only way to vote.”
Sundaram said about 250 votes were cast via email after students encountered problems online. Once the board’s inbox reached capacity, there was a 10-minute period before students were directed to send their ballots to other email addresses, she said.
Erik Davies, student solicitor general, said the results are valid since there was a fair voting system in place.
“There is not a direct empowerment to have a re-election,” Davies said.
He cited the 2010 Student Supreme Court case involving Student Congress candidate Taylor Holgate, which established that an election’s results are legitimate even if there is a problem with the voting format — as long as students are made aware of other voting resources.
“Any claims about software errors are totally irrelevant,” Davies said. “I take issue with those who say voters were disenfranchised because clearly when you opened the ballot it said you have this option (to email).”
