Only SBP candidates' budgets affected by recent BOE hearing decisions

Student body presidential candidates Maurice Grier and Elizabeth Adkins are still in the running for the position, though both were awarded penalty points by the UNC Board of Elections on Sunday.

The Grier campaign was given four points and the Adkins campaign was given one point. For each point given, the maximum budget — originally $150 — decreases by five percent.

Each candidate is required to turn in a financial statement by 5 p.m. after election day to the BOE.

Paul Kushner, chairperson of the BOE, said there is a line in the Student Code saying the board can, by majority decision, disqualify a candidate without a hearing process if the candidate does not file a financial statement.

“So the financial statement that any candidate submits has to include their new limit, so if they didn’t do that properly then that would be a potential pitfall for them otherwise after the fact,” Kushner said.

It is unclear what would happen if a president were elected, then found out to have gone over their maximum budget. Kushner said the BOE would have to meet and vote on what to do.

“There is not a specific policy set forward,” he said.

Election day is still unknown because of a complaint filed against the BOE by Travis Broadhurst.

The UNC Student Supreme Court will have a pretrial hearing on Wednesday and Kushner said a motion for dismissal filed by the BOE could be heard during the hearing.

The board found the Grier campaign guilty of three technology violations — with multiple technology charges combined into one — and one false start violation. The technology violations come from a lack of sponsorship messages on campaign materials and the false start violation comes from the Grier team hosting a campaign event during the Student Supreme Court’s freeze.

The original complaint contained 19 separate charges, but the board said the burden of proof had not been met to show the Grier campaign was guilty of the other charges.

Grier said he doesn’t think the budget cut will affect his campaign because he has been adhering to the rules put forth.

“I hope that it will continue to show the Carolina community my dedication to being a man of character and of value and doing things the right way regardless of the situation or accusations,” Grier said. “I will continue to uphold the rules the best way I can.”

In a decision by the BOE on the complaint against the Adkins campaign, the campaign was found guilty of one false start violation.

The false start violation is because a member of her campaign shared a Facebook post during the campaign freeze. The campaign pleaded guilty to this charge.

The complaint had 11 other charges on it, but the board determined there was not enough evidence to find the Adkins campaign guilty.

Adkins said she doesn’t think her budget will be affected by the penalty points as they were under budget. She said they are excited to bring the focus of elections back to the issues.

“I know that from a candidate side, it is confusing, so I know that it is even more confusing for the students,” she said.

University Editor Acy Jackson contributed reporting.

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