Candidates sign off on signatures

The steady flurry of campaigners and clipboards that stormed through the corridors of UNC’s campus came to a halt in the Board of Elections office Thursday.

All candidates vying for elected positions in student government had to submit the required number of student signatures by 5 p.m., and the elections board is now in the process of electronically checking each petition for duplicates.

While all candidates for top positions submitted the required number of signatures, one ran into a snag fulfilling this year’s newly implemented requirement of sending an electronic spreadsheet.

Bobby Whisnant Jr., a candidate for senior class president, was the only candidate who faced a problem submitting the electronic petition forms. He submitted his paper petitions by the deadline, but his disk was malfunctioning until midnight.

BOE Chairwoman Heather Sidden has granted his campaign a 24-hour grace period to turn in a working disk.

According to campaign rules, a student neither can sign the same petition twice nor sign two candidates’ petitions in the same race. Any infraction of this rule is considered an Honor Code violation.

After eight student body president candidates produced all 800 required signatures last year, this rule came under scrutiny.

“The petitions are a big part of becoming a candidate, and we want to take a tougher stance on the duplicates,” Sidden said.

If deleted duplications cause candidates to fall short of the required number of signatures, they will have 24 hours to resubmit their petitions, Sidden said.

While the elections board will post the names of all eligible candidates by 5 p.m. today, The Daily Tar Heel requested petition forms from each candidate to compile unofficial figures.

While some duplications were found, no candidate appears to be in threat of being denied a chance to run.

“I think the biggest problem was that students weren’t aware of the rules,” student body president candidate Seth Dearmin said. “There was an informational mass e-mail, but that isn’t always the best way to inform 26,000 people.”

Candidates for student body president and president of the Carolina Athletic Association each needed 800 signatures; candidates for the senior class president and vice president, as well as Residence Hall Association president, need 350 signatures; and candidates for Graduate and Professional Student Federation president need 100 signatures.

Most candidates said they had no difficulties collecting the required number of signatures.

“We got about two-thirds of the signatures on the first day,” presidential candidate Tom Jensen said. “After that, we called off the dogs.”

Whisnant said previous campaign experience helped him determine the best way to target his voters.

“I knew how to target juniors,” he said. “We went to all the professional schools. Otherwise, there would only be a one in four chance that the person you approached was a junior.”

At 7 a.m. Tuesday, candidates can use campaign materials, which include A-frames and posters.

Candidates said they plan to Pit sit and attend forums next week to promote their platforms and answer questions from students.

“Everything is going smoothly,” Sidden said. “(The campaign’s) had its ups and downs, but everything is going great.”

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.