Santoro resigns as speaker, files suit against elections board

In the latest complication to an already tumultuous campaign season, Deanna Santoro, speaker of Student Congress, resigned her post Monday and filed a lawsuit with the Student Supreme Court against the Board of Elections.

The suit challenges rulings by the board that have allowed candidate and current Student Body Secretary Ian Lee to run for student body president, citing misinterpreted sections of the Student Code.

“Over the past few weeks, I have witnessed the complete lack of understanding of the function of the Student Code,” Santoro wrote in an e-mail to other members of Student Congress early Monday morning.

“Our Code has been blatantly ignored, repeatedly violated and deliberately misinterpreted,” she added.

Santoro said she hopes the Student Supreme Court issues an injunction to the board that prevents it from releasing the results of today’s election.

“I guess the bottom line is that if the Student Supreme Court rules in our favor there might need to be another election,” she added. “It would be in their discretion.”

The Code prohibits the speaker from speaking out against any campaign or candidate.

Santoro, who will continue as a Granville Towers representative in Student Congress, said her decision to step down and file suit was motivated by her frustration with the board.

“I think that they’re wrong,” she said.

“I don’t want to sound rude or very polarized, but I am. I don’t believe that they’ve loosely interpreted it, I think they’ve misinterpreted it.”

The suit claims the board misinterpreted the Code, which also prohibits the student body secretary and other officials from participating in a campaign for any elected position.

The board issued a decision in December that ruled Lee’s candidacy acceptable, citing a subsequent clause that states “the official,” when endorsing a candidate, must speak on behalf of themselves rather than student government.

Santoro said this clause refers to the members of student government not prohibited from participating by the previous section.

“That’s not referring to the people in part one,” she said. “That’s referring to members of Congress, that’s referring to members of cabinet, that’s referring to members of the student attorney general’s office.”

Santoro said she will file another suit today that claims the board has failed to enforce another section of the code, which gives the board the authority to automatically disqualify certain members of student government who participate in an election but do not resign.

Jessica Womack, chief justice of the court, said the court could prevent the board from certifying results of the election if it is necessary to sustain the status quo.

She added that it would take the court more than a day to decide the suits, citing the requirement to provide the defendant at least 24 hours to respond.

Santoro said she has no ulterior motives in filing suit.

“I have no problem with Ian running,” she said.

“I do have a problem with the student body secretary running when the code says that they can’t.”

Lee said he feels sure that, no matter what the court decides, his campaign will be unharmed.

“Even in a worst case scenario the [Student] Supreme Court would just say that I need to resign,” he said.

The new speaker will be determined by an election held at the next full meeting of Student Congress on Feb. 22.

Zach De La Rosa, chairman of the rules and judiciary committee, said the new speaker will likely be committee chairman or chairwoman or the speaker pro tempore.

Contact the University Editor at university@dailytarheel.com.