Grier and Adkins now the only two candidates on student body president ballot

Matthew McKnight’s two appeals to the UNC Student Supreme Court were denied Sunday, upholding the UNC Board of Elections decision to disqualify him from the race. Board of Elections complaints were filed Sunday against the two remaining candidates, Elizabeth Adkins and Maurice Grier.

McKnight said he was disappointed with the decision and will talk to his team to determine what he will do next.

“The Supreme Court seems very interested in giving what they would call wide latitude to the Board of Elections,” McKnight said. “However, I think given the turbulent past of the Board of Elections giving them such latitude in a time in which their commitment to the Student Code is questionable is not necessarily the wisest of decisions.”

The complaint against Adkins, filed by junior Ian Muriuki, cites one count of finance problems, four false start violations, six technology violations and one location violation. Sophomore Will Hopping filed a complaint against Grier citing 12 technology violations, five false start violations, one location violation and one falsification violation.

McKnight’s first appeal dealt with the BOE giving him four points for falsification in the Edwards v. McKnight I complaint. The second appeal was for the BOE decision to give McKnight another eight points for falsification in the Edwards v. McKnight III hearing.

Before Sunday’s decision denying the second appeal, McKnight said he believed the proceedings against him by the BOE did not comply with the Student Code and that he was unjustly disqualified.

The Supreme Court’s decisions to deny McKnight’s appeal said the BOE has a wide range of authority to determine punishments and points.

Currently, Grier and Adkins are the only two candidates on the ballot for student body president.

Adkins said she is only focused on her campaign and the road ahead.

“Because of my involvement I have been able to see wonderful things that student government has done, but I have also been able to say ‘Here are the things that we can do better,’” Adkins said.

While he initially did not gain enough signatures, Grier was able to collect the necessary amount after a 24-hour grace period.

Grier said he and his team were mind-blown when they finally found out they were in the running.

“I’m really excited because it’s giving me an opportunity now to radiate this message of love throughout the campus community even more,” Grier said. “I think I’m more excited about that than being on the ballot to be honest. Of course I want to be elected, but the message is more important.”

Following an earlier BOE hearing, Joe Nail was disqualified from the student body president elections. His campaign is currently not endorsing a candidate.

The BOE determined that Travis Broadhurst did not gain enough signatures even with the 24-hour grace period. He is currently not endorsing a candidate, because he believes he did gain enough signatures.

“There was some confusion regarding ... signatures, but we are currently working with the Board of Elections to sort everything out,” he said.

Broadhurst said he thinks the program that counted signatures discounted all duplicate signatures when someone signed his petition multiple times. With only one of the duplicates counted, Broadhurst said he would have more than the minimum number of signatures required.

Paul Kushner, chairperson of the Board of Elections, said the BOE will be standing by their original decision regarding Broadhurst’s campaign.

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