Student files Student Supreme Court lawsuit following early voting issues

During the student government elections voting period, plagued with technical and administrative issues, junior Liam Cuppett filed a lawsuit against the UNC Board of Elections to the UNC Student Supreme Court. 

His 11-page complaint, submitted via email on Feb. 11 at 7:47 p.m., resulted in a 48-hour election extension.

Cuppett, who was running as a write-in candidate for the Undergraduate Senate in District 2, said he was frustrated with the “severe issues” surrounding early voting.

“The difference in 24 hours and 72 hours to get votes in is a lot, especially between certain candidates and those high-priority races,” Cuppett said.

The initial early voting period was set for Feb. 8 at 5 p.m. through Feb. 10 at 5 p.m., with an in-person priority mail cardboard box to collect votes and stacks of ballots in front of the Student Government suite in the Student Union. There was no option for online voting.

Cuppett said he saw the box and thought people could easily reach into it, vote multiple times or manipulate ballots.

“In addition to that, there were several members that are already incumbent in Student Government or affiliated with other people's campaigns who were basically standing at the box telling people not to vote,” Cuppett said. 

Cuppett said he was running as a member of a five-person informal coalition, all hoping to win spots as write-in candidates in the Undergraduate Senate. Write-in candidates require at least 15 votes in order to be certified as elected.

Cuppett was the only member of the group to win, despite at least one seat in each district remaining unfilled. 

Christina Huang, a coalition member who wasn't elected to District 2, said she traveled home to New Jersey for the long weekend that coincided with early voting, making it impossible to vote in person.

“I think a lot of people were very frustrated with this year's election,” she said.

All three student body presidential candidates filed a complaint to the BOE, resulting in the nullification of the ballots cast in person and the first delay in early voting. Due to technical difficulties with Heel Life, the entire early voting period did not occur.

Cuppett said it's clear in statute that the BOE has the discretion to change election timing but does not have the discretion to skip entire parts of the election.

Andrew Gary, a UNC graduate student and associate justice who wrote the opinion for the case, said the justices immediately knew the lawsuit needed to be resolved quickly.

Cuppett's complaint had four requests. The first two asked that the current election be nullified and rescheduled, and that the BOE post a timeline on Instagram and Heel Life for the new election, including early voting.

“If neither of the above are considered feasible by the Court, [Cuppett] requests that two ‘later voting’ days be added onto the election to make up for the disaster that was early voting this year,” Cuppett’s complaint states. 

If this wasn't possible, Cuppett asked for the Court to set a precedent if the early voting timeline is not honored in the future.

Adolfo Alvarez, the student body president-elect, submitted a paperless memo the night the suit was filed, stating his campaign would be harmed by throwing out the Election Day votes, but welcoming the voting extension.

UNC senior and Chief Justice of the Court Nathaniel Shue said he sent the acting chair of the BOE, Elias Larson North, an email alerting him of the lawsuit and giving 24 hours to respond.

Shue said that North answered the following morning on Feb. 12, allowing the Court to work on their opinion.

“This seemed to me to be a fairly open-and-shut case when it comes to the facts involved and the law, because no party was contesting the facts in any substantial way,” Shue said.

On Feb. 12 at 4:59 p.m., in the final minute before the voting window was scheduled to close, Shue said he posted the decision that required a 48-hour election extension through Feb. 14 at 5 p.m.

“So this, in our view, was a very obvious and equitable outcome,” he said.

Shue said the BOE was unable to do its job, partially because of staffing issues. The Cuppett v. BOE decision ordered leaders in Student Government to request that their staff volunteer to help the BOE for the rest of the election cycle.

Huang said students were frustrated with the Qualtrics ballot because some people had trouble accessing the form, and the rank-choice voting was automatically set to rank candidates in alphabetical order.

North did not respond to The Daily Tar Heel's request for a comment.

“I know that most students don't know that the Court exists, and I know that a lot of people think this is a fairly inaccessible process,” Gary said. “But the Supreme Court is always available to resolve or to hear cases where people think that their rights as a student have been infringed and that there are resources available to help them access this forum.”

@dailytarheel | university@dailytarheel.com