SBP election results delayed due to Student Supreme Court injunction

The student body president election ground to a halt Tuesday when the Student Supreme Court issued an injunction that prevented the release and certification of the election’s results.

“I’m pretty upset,” said Ian Lee, whose candidacy is now seemingly in jeopardy, having been at the crux of the suit that led to the injunction.

“It’s just another wrench in what has already been a dirty, complicated campaign season,” he added.

The injunction to the Board of Elections to delay the release of results comes in response to a complaint filed by Deanna Santoro, the former speaker of Student Congress who resigned her position Monday. The complaint stated that the board had misinterpreted the Student Code, allowing Lee to run for student body president while holding the office of student body secretary.

In the suit, Santoro asked the court to issue an injunction forcing the board to neither release nor certify results for the student body president election.

The court issued the injunction Tuesday afternoon.

Andrew Phillips, chairman of the board, filed a motion to dismiss the injunction, citing sections of the Code that would disqualify Santoro’s lawsuit. In the motion, Phillips said Santoro’s complaints are illegitimate because she is neither a candidate nor a member of the Board of Elections.

He added that Santoro’s suit was filed after the 96-hour window allowed to challenge a decision that caused injury. The board ruled Dec. 13 that Lee’s candidacy was not a violation of the Code.

The court did not meet to consider the motion Tuesday night. Jessica Womack, chief justice of the Student Supreme Court, said the soonest the body would be able to meet for discussion would likely be Thursday.

Santoro said the court’s decision to enjoin was vindicating.

“I’m not going to say I’m happy about the injunction, but I do feel it was a necessary step in the case,” Santoro said.

“And the fact the injunction was issued shows the merits of the case.”

Lee said the case has no legal merits.

“First of all, she doesn’t have the standing to file,” he said, citing a section of the Code that states a party has to be “directly and adversely affected by a regulation, ruling or determination of the elections board.”

Womack said the court would move as fast as it could to consider the case.

“We’re certainly not going to sit on our hands and dilly dally, but we have to wait until all the information is submitted so we can proceed,” she said.

In the decision to enjoin to delay release of the results, Womack wrote that the answer in the case must be filed by 5 p.m. today. Each party must file briefs in support of their arguments by 5 p.m. Thursday.

Santoro said she received positive feedback for her filing of the suits.

“Within an hour of sending out my resignation e-mail, I received 10 responses of people saying they were proud,” she said.

“A lot of my colleagues are relieved,” she added. “However, everything you do can’t make everyone happy. Just realize this is just a really genuine effort to uphold the Student Code.”

Santoro said she expected Phillips to try to have the injunction lifted.

She added that correctly interpreting the Student Code is of paramount importance.

“I am a very principled person, and I have a very strict interpretation of the Student Code and it should be understood the way it was written,” she said.

“I’ve spent the last two years at Carolina perfecting this document.”

Kevin Whitfield, the student solicitor general who helped Phillips draft the motion to dismiss the injunction, said he was surprised by the speed of the court’s actions.

Mary Cooper, a candidate for student body president, said the Code is at the root of the problem.

“I think the biggest culprit in this situation is the Student Code,” she said.

“I just think the Code just needs to be looked at holistically.”

She said the timing of the lawsuit was regrettable.

The results of the election for District 1 of Student Congress were also stalled, due to allegations of dorm-storming in violation of election law.

Contact the University Editor at university@dailytarheel.com.