Nail files complaint against Board of Elections after being disqualified from election

UPDATE (2:30 p.m. Tuesday): Joe Nail filed a complaint against the UNC Board of Elections to the UNC Student Supreme Court. 

The complaint said the board erroneously agreed to hear the Shriver v. Nail complaint on Sunday. The complaint also said Nail was not treated in the same manner as other candidates and the BOE did not assign penalty points in a manner that aligned with the Student Code and precedence. 

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Joe Nail, a candidate for student body president, has been disqualified by the UNC Board of Elections.

After a hearing on Sunday, the BOE found the Joe for SBP campaign guilty of one false start violation, one technology violation and one falsification violation — awarding them a total of 12 points and disqualifying Nail from the election.

Ten points are required to disqualify a candidate from the election. 

The BOE also gave rulings on two other hearings from Sunday — both complaints heard were against the Matthew McKnight campaign for student body president.

In the first complaint against the McKnight campaign, the BOE gave the McKnight campaign seven points — which does not disqualify McKnight from the student body president election.

The McKnight campaign was found guilty of one falsification violation and three technology violations.

In the second complaint against the McKnight campaign, the BOE found the McKnight campaign not guilty of all charges. The second complaint included charges of falsification and harmful and malicious behavior.

For each point awarded, there is a five percent deduction from a campaign's maximum budget, which begins at $150, said Paul Kushner, chairperson of the BOE. After the BOE's decision, the McKnight campaign now has a 35 percent deduction in its budget. 

Each decision by the BOE may be appealed to the UNC Student Supreme Court.

In a statement from the Joe for SBP campaign, the campaign said they plan to appeal to the Supreme Court.

"The Joe Nail for SBP campaign strongly disagrees with the erroneous, split decision made tonight by the Board of Elections. We will be immediately appealing the decision to the Student Supreme Court on multiple grounds," the statement said.

The BOE was split on how many points to award the Joe for SBP campaign. While one member dissented with the sanctions, the dissent was on how many points to award — but the points suggested in the dissent would have resulted in disqualification regardless. 

university@dailytarheel.com

CLARIFICATION: A previous version of this article was unclear on the nature of the split decision. While the BOE was split on how many points to award the Joe for SBP campaign, the board agreed on the decision to disqualify Nail from the race.