Former student body president candidate Ron Bilbao is appealing to the Student Supreme Court his disqualification from the race.
The court's ruling could again limit the Board of Elections' power" which has already taken two hits from the court this year.
Bilbao was disqualified from the race Tuesday for not removing signs in Polk Place after Board of Elections Chairman Ryan Morgan told him to. Bilbao's contention is that his right to due process was violated.
The Student Code requires ""automatic disqualification"" if the elections board finds that a candidate knowingly violated election rules. But Bilbao and Morgan disagree on how this part of the Code should be interpreted.
Morgan said since the Code says ""automatic"" there is no need for any sort of meeting. He also said he gave Bilbao a chance to speak in his defense on election night.
Bilbao and his counsel, Andrew Pham, say disqualification still requires a hearing because finding violations has a set of rules outlined elsewhere in the Code.
The Student Supreme Court's ruling will not affect the outcome of the election in any way. For the Board of Elections, defending against appeal is a symbolic action.
In January, the Student Supreme Court ruled that the elections board violated due process in fining then-candidate Matt Wohlford $40 and not allowing him to present evidence in his defense.
Then-candidate Ashley Klein was also fined $40 on the same charges. She filed suit but pursued her case by challenging the Board of Elections' right to interpret campaign law.
The ruling in her case affirmed the elections board's ability to interpret elections law but also led to a 70 percent reduction to her fine after tightening the rules on what is public and private campaigning.
Another complaint: the sign in the tree
Former candidate Ron Bilbao also complained about how one of his campaign posters was treated. The poster was hung in a tree in the Pit, which violates two election rules in the Student Code. No sign may be hung in a tree nor in a designated polling place — which the Pit is. Bilbao and Board of Elections Chairman Ryan Morgan have different stories about what happened next.
Bilbao's version: Citing several sworn affidavits from witnesses, Bilbao alleges that Morgan ripped the sign out of the tree, crumpled it and then danced"" on it.
Morgan's version: Morgan said he saw the sign in the tree — in clear violation of the Student Code — and decided that it needed to be taken down immediately. He said he folded it up because it was so large" and kept his foot on it while sitting at the elections board polling table in the Pit to keep the banner from blowing away in the wind.
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
