Election board's closing of fine meeting was illegal

The Board of Elections violated state law by shutting The Daily Tar Heel out of a meeting on campaign fines, several open meetings law experts said Monday.

After closing Sunday’s meeting, the board decided to charge juniors Ashley Klein and Matt Wohlford $40 each for holding on-campus interest meetings and speaking with The Daily Tar Heel in preparation for student body president campaigns.

But in shutting the public out without citing a statutory reason, board members broke N.C. Open Meetings Law, which governs every public body.

Student government groups were declared public bodies by the N.C. Court of Appeals in 1998.

Board Chairman Ryan Morgan said his decision to close the meeting was valid because the Student Code allows him to close meetings.

“It looks like we were justified in closing the meeting,” he said. “We’re assuming that everything in the Student Code is legal.”

The Student Code lays out the framework for student government at UNC. In a section about elections law, it states that the board has the ability to close meetings.

The open meetings statute lays out nine specific instances in which public meetings may be closed and mandates that officials cite their reason before shutting the meeting.

On Sunday, Board of Elections members cited only the Student Code provision that allows them to close meetings.

But the state law says just the nine instances can legally be used as a justification.

“The Student Code can’t be inconsistent with N.C. law,” Raleigh attorney Beth Soja said. “I’m pretty sure that N.C. state law is going to control here.”

Congress Speaker Pro Tem Bryan Weynand agreed and said the Student Code was never meant to supersede state law.

He added that it is the Board of Elections’ responsibility to make sure it follows N.C. statues, not those of Congress.

“It wouldn’t be our responsibility to come up with a reason,” Weynand said.

The Daily Tar Heel attempted to cover the meeting because it would have been one of the few public discussions of how the board interprets election law. Fining student election candidates is also rare, particularly this early in the year.

The fines levied Sunday will be instituted if Klein and Wohlford become certified candidates for student body president. Each presidential candidate is given $400 by the University for campaigning.

Last year, the Board of Elections fined student body president candidate Kristin Hill $3 for displaying improperly formatted A-frame campaign signs.

The year before, the board issued $25 fines to candidates Eve Carson and Jon Kite for using campaign material before public campaigning began.



Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.