Student Government officials said the disqualification of Dewberry and Butler was required under the Elections Handbook and was not issued by the Special Review Committee itself.

After being asked to clarify the relationship between the committee and the disqualification, Carmichael said the Board of Elections made the original disqualification decision after determining the campaign violated a rule that requires immediate disqualification.

“I wanted to first make it clear that the Committee did not directly issue a disqualification to Taquan Dewberry and Ava Butler. That was done by the Board of Elections,” Carmichael wrote. “The provision of the Elections Handbook that the candidates violated requires their immediate disqualification, which the Committee interpreted to mean direct disqualification as defined in the Handbook.”

Carmichael also said the restriction barring Dewberry and Butler from holding future elected Student Government positions stems from how the Elections Handbook defines “direct disqualification.”

“All the committee did was connect the dots, if you will,” Carmichael wrote, explaining that the violation required immediate disqualification, which is defined in the handbook as direct disqualification and carries an automatic prohibition on holding elected office in the future.

In a statement to Technician, Attanucci said the prohibition on holding future office comes from the Elections Handbook itself and was not independently created by the Special Review Committee.

“The Special Review Committee did not independently create that sanction; rather, it applied the rules as written in the Handbook when reviewing the appeal,” Attanucci wrote.

Attanucci said questions about whether the penalty was proportional relate to how the handbook was written and approved through the legislative process, not how it was enforced during the election.

Attanucci also rejected Dewberry and Butler’s allegations of a conflict of interest within the Special Review Committee, noting the committee’s decision to uphold the disqualification was unanimous and that members of the committee completed “unconscious bias training” prior to the hearing.

Attanucci said the Board of Elections will not release vote totals for the race and instead reports only percentages, consistent with past elections. He said votes cast for Dewberry and Butler were omitted from the final tabulation.

Now that the results have been certified and all appeals and violations have been resolved, Attanucci said the spring election cycle has now concluded.

In a statement to Technician, Trask and Stack said they were grateful for the support of the student body and looked forward to beginning the transition into office.

“We are incredibly grateful for the support from the student body and honored to have the opportunity to serve as student body president and vice president,” Trask and Stack wrote. “This campaign was built on listening to students and advocating for ideas that make campus life better for everyone, and we are excited to turn those goals into action. We look forward to working with students, faculty and administration to make this a successful year for our entire community.”

Trask and Stack said they respected the outcome of the appeals process following a series of election disputes during the campaign, including a violation Trask filed, originally issued as BOE-105-S2, that was later overturned by the Special Review Committee and reduced to a warning for an inaccurate expense report.

“We respect the outcome of the appeals process and the role of the Special Review Committee in ensuring that elections are conducted fairly and in accordance with the established statutes and handbook,” Trask and Stack wrote. “We also want to wish the other fellow candidates well in their future endeavors and thank everyone who participated in the democratic process.”

Trask and Stack said their next steps include meeting with current Student Government leaders, beginning the transition process and engaging with students across campus to develop priorities for their administration.

“At the end of the day, student government elections should be about serving students and strengthening our campus community,” Trask and Stack wrote. “We are committed to moving forward in that spirit.”

In a statement to Technician following the decision, Dewberry and Butler said they were disappointed by the ruling and argued it effectively nullified votes from more than 2,000 students who supported their campaign.

“Regardless of the outcome of any race, students deserve confidence that their voices and participation in the democratic process matter,” Dewberry and Butler wrote.

The candidates also questioned the scope of the ruling’s penalty, saying the restriction on holding future Student Government positions, to their understanding, “is not commonly associated with election disputes of this nature, and it raises serious questions about proportionality and precedent within Student Government.”

The campaign further alleged concerns about potential conflicts of interest during the appeals process, claiming a member of the Special Review Committee had monitored Butler’s personal calendar and communicated with another campaign regarding the Dewberry-Butler ticket’s potential violations.

“We raised those concerns prior to the hearing because we believed it created a clear conflict of interest for someone tasked with evaluating the outcome of the election,” Dewberry and Butler wrote. “While we were told the matter would be addressed, from our perspective those concerns were never meaningfully resolved.”

Dewberry also said the campaign was told more than 2,000 students voted in the election, citing information from sources familiar with the results, although the only accurate numbers would come from the SG Advisor or the BOE Chair.

“I think in normal situations, the number of students that voted would be readily accessible information; however, I am unsure about whether or not SG Officials will reveal this official number for this cycle,” Dewberry wrote.

Technician has reached out to Board of Elections Chair Joseph Attanucci for a statement.

Dewberry and Butler said they encountered comments during the campaign suggesting that two Black candidates would not win a campus-wide election at NC State.

“Hearing those sentiments was difficult, but it also strengthened our commitment to running a campaign that focused on inclusion, accountability and ensuring that Student Government works for all students,” Dewberry and Butler wrote.

Chief Justice Colin Carmichael, who chairs the Special Review Committee but does not vote unless in the case of a tie, said the committee’s role was limited to interpreting Student Government’s governing documents and whether the Board of Elections acted improperly.

Carmichael said the committee did not vote to disqualify the Dewberry-Butler ticket, nor bar them from ever holding elected office in Student Government.

“The disqualification of Taquan Dewberry and Ava Butler was a decision of the Board

of Elections,” Carmichael said. “Since there was not clear, convincing evidence that the Board acted incorrectly, the committee unanimously voted not to overturn the BOE decision.”

Carmichael also said the committee does not have discretion over how the Elections Handbook’s rules are applied.

“The committee did not vote to disqualify the Dewberry-Butler ticket. Application of the rules in the Elections Handbook is not up to the committee’s discretion,” Carmichael wrote. “In interpretation of the Handbook, the committee interprets what the rule says, not what the rule should be.”

Carmichael said the committee chose to certify results without a runoff in part because voters were informed of the disqualification before voting began and because holding another election shortly before spring break could reduce turnout and raise concerns about legitimacy.

“Lastly, a runoff election after the upholding of a disqualification could have a chilling effect on voters, and there would be significant concerns with the legitimacy of the election provided that there has already been a complete voting period for student body president and vice president,” Carmichael wrote. “Ordering a runoff would disregard the Board of Elections’ facilitation of a valid and fair election that had already taken place, as well as all of the votes cast in the election for student body president and vice president.”