Editor’s Note: Jacob Smith is a senior staff writer at Technician whose work for the publication has been temporarily suspended for the duration of student government election campaigns. His work is permitted to resume following the spring campaign and election period.

The NC State Student Government Board of Elections disqualified Taquan Dewberry and Ava Butler from the student body president and vice president races on Sunday, March 8, following four violation hearings.

Dewberry and Butler, who remain on the ballot and may still receive votes, have since appealed their disqualification, citing concerns about the hearing process and statements from involved parties. The Special Review Committee will hear Dewberry and Butler’s appeal at their March 12 meeting to determine if votes cast for their ticket will count. 

Board of Elections vs. Dewberry and Butler: Notification

The Board petitioned over a Higher Education Masters Association (HEMA) Instagram post promoting the Dewberry-Butler ticket, alleging violations of digital presence, endorsement rules and conduct. A 3-2 vote issued a notification, finding no significant advantage gained since HEMA followed procedures and offered equal opportunity, although the Board found that rules were technically broken.

Trask vs. Dewberry and Butler: Immediate disqualification

Knox Trask, another candidate for student body president, alleged underreporting of 75 custom pins at $3.75 total, claiming a $5-per-pin fair-market value from vendor @tins.pins pushed the campaign’s spending over the $400 limit, violating expense rules. The Board’s 4-2 disqualification vote cited intentional falsification, as public Instagram posts contradicted testimony on library production and free materials and that unreported in-kind labor and value were used to hide overspending.

Trask vs. Dewberry and Butler: Dismissal

Trask also claimed distribution of energy drinks and chips exceeding $1 symbolic limits at a “campaign table” in Wolf Plaza. Witnesses, including HUB Raleigh leasing and marketing associate Elijah Lott, testified that the table was hosted by HUB Raleigh and items were HUB-branded marketing, not campaign-provided. The Board dismissed 5-2 for insufficient evidence.

Smith vs. Dewberry and Butler: Immediate disqualification

Jacob Smith, executive director of the Eddinger-Rivas student body president and vice president campaign, reported the promotion of a March 6 “Doing Better BBQ” at HUB Raleigh event with free food and drinks, including Instagram ads urging attendance to meet “Team DB.”

The Board voted unanimously towards disqualification, finding the campaign’s ads, direct invitation acceptance and requests for social media tags, along with free items, were grounds for “bribery, inducement or the offering of items of value in exchange for votes or support,” despite HUB’s funding of the event.

Responses and Involved Parties

Parties involved in the violation cases have put forward statements following the publicization of the results.

Chair of the Student Government Board of Elections Joseph Attanucci explained that he presides over violation hearings but does not vote except in the event of a tie, which did not occur.

Attanucci stated that the Board acts as a collective in determining outcomes of violation hearings, and the decisions of notification, dismissal and immediate disqualification “reflect the determination of the voting members of the Board.” 

“In each case, the Board reviewed submitted evidence, heard statements from the parties present and rendered a decision based on the preponderance of the evidence standard as required by the Elections Handbook and governing election procedures,” Attanucci wrote in an email statement to Technician. “… My role is to ensure that the hearings are conducted fairly and in accordance with the governing documents that regulate student elections.”

Attanucci recognized the Dewberry-Butler campaign’s intent to appeal the Board of Elections’ decision to the Special Review Committee.

“Beyond the procedural framework outlined in the governing documents, I cannot comment further on a potential appeal,” Attanucci wrote.

In an email statement to Technician, Alexander Rivas, candidate for student body vice president, said their campaign’s decision to pursue the petition stemmed from the belief that election rules must apply equally to each ticket. He stated their actions were not targeted nor personal.

“Ultimately, the decision reached by the Board reflected that evidence and the standards that all candidates agreed to follow at the start of the election,” Rivas wrote on behalf of the campaign. “At the end of the day, our goal is simply to support a free and fair election process. When questions arise about outside involvement, sponsorship or conduct that could give one campaign an advantage over others, we believe those concerns should be reviewed through the proper channels.” 

The Trask-Stack campaign has not yet responded to Technician’s requests for comment.

ButtonGate

Tindra Tramontano, owner of @tins.pins issued a statement on Instagram clarifying her intent in creating the Dewberry-Butler campaign pins.

Tramontano wrote that Dewberry and Butler are her friends, and she was approached by Dewberry to make the pins. She said she did not think it made sense to charge the campaign for the pins, as she used the Library’s free supplies in the Maker Space to create them. Tramontano stated that when she makes items for sale, she purchases her own supplies.

“I was making these pins for my friend, and did not see any reason to financially profit from this,” Tramontano wrote.

Tramontano said Dewberry went through the proper avenues to ensure they were not committing any violations before the hearings.

“Before the ruling, Taquan was assured by the chair of the board of elections that the pins I made in the Maker Space would be valued as free, as by fair-market prices for any NC State student, any student could have made the same pins for free,” Tramontano wrote.

In a statement to Technician, Dewberry confirmed that he had consulted with Attanucci.

“What is even more concerning to us is the fact that the Chair of the Board of Elections, in front of the Student Government Chief Justice, gave us permission to move forward with button-making so long as we used free NC State resources, which we did,” Dewberry wrote.

HUB Raleigh

During the fourth and final violation hearing, respondents Dewberry and Butler provided email evidence sent by Kendra Hooks, HUB Raleigh’s New Development Senior Manager, contesting the campaign’s involvement in selling or providing free food and drinks to student voters.

“Hub Raleigh planned a cookout at their leasing office, 2304 Hillsborough Street on Friday 3/6. Similar to the many (10+) events hosted this semester, this was an open-invite for students and community members,” Hooks wrote. “To be explicitly clear — this event was solely hosted by the Hub Raleigh team. Food, drinks and games were provided and handled solely by Hub Raleigh’s team members.”

Hooks said that no mention of the Dewberry-Butler campaign was used in advertising for the event.

“As a student community, when planning events, we lean into the opportunity to host different student organizations and business, providing them the opportunity to engage with other students,” Hooks wrote. “Organizations like the wellness society and NCSU Depop will have a table where they can organically engage with other students at no cost. The invite to attend our event was extended to the Dewberry-Butler team with no exchange required.”

Lott was present as a witness during the hearing and reiterated that the organization’s events are open to all members of the Raleigh community.

Dewberry, in his statement, confirmed that his campaign never indicated that they were hosting the event for students to buy or receive free materials; only that they would be present. He alleged Zach Eddinger and Alex Rivas, fellow candidates for SBP and VP, sent two students to effectively implicate him in a violation.

“What truly hurts us about this case is that Zach Eddinger and Alexander Rivas’s campaign sent two students to the event where they knew I would be present as ‘trackers’ to try and entrap our campaign in a violation,” Dewberry wrote. “These two students approached me while seated at the event talking to three other students, all of whom commented on The Nubian Message’s instagram, and asked me to stand up to take a photo with them after telling me that they supported my campaign. The BOE stated that I asked for their support even though I was approached and essentially led into a conversation regarding this matter.”

Rivas validated the involvement of the Eddinger-Rivas campaign, but stated that their informants verified Dewberry’s presence at the event after the fact. 

“The two individuals we spoke to attended the event at different times, and neither of them are active members of our campaign staff,” Rivas wrote. “We chose to speak with them only after learning they had been present, and because we already knew them outside of campaigning.” 

Rivas stated that the claim of entrapment “does not make sense given the nature of the violation itself.” He said the “primary evidence came from material that the campaign itself made public online.”

“Any details included in the witness statements were only meant to provide additional context to the situation, not to create the case itself,” Rivas wrote. “With or without witness accounts, the substance of the violation remains the same, as the decision was based on the campaign’s own public actions rather than on who happened to be in the room.”

HUB Raleigh has not released a public statement regarding the event following the hearing, but the organization’s Instagram page commented on a post by Dewberry-Butler’s campaign account @dewberrybutler.

@dewberrybutler posted a short video explaining that the ticket has been disqualified but that they are planning to appeal and students may still vote for them. After commenting that they were “just giving out free hot dogs” and that “everyone was welcome,” @hub.raleigh also commented “wait is this play about us????” on the post.

This is a developing story.