The Board of Elections released its full decision Monday on the hearing for the ethics complaint filed by the Lamar Richards Campaign for Student Body President against candidate Keshav Javvadi.
The BOE found Javvadi not guilty for misrepresentation and falsification because of “lack of intentionality.” However, Javvadi was found guilty for harmful or malicious behavior due to the harm that misinformation caused to the Richards campaign.
The Javvadi campaign has received a six-point penalty, which corresponds with an 18 percent reduction of the campaign's maximum spending limit. A candidate is disqualified if they accumulate 15 or more points.
Javvadi said he agreed with the BOE’s decision, and he apologized for the mistakes that he and his campaign made.
“I hope students don’t look at the decision and think I intentionally harmed Lamar’s campaign — it was a genuinely honest small mistake that resulted in negative publicity for both of us,” he wrote to the DTH. “I always meant well and, even if a little harm was caused, never meant any harm.”
Keisha Solanki, campaign manager for the Richards campaign, said their team appreciated the consideration and the decision of the BOE.
“While the Javvadi campaign did hold steadfast in the fact that both of the claims of misrepresentation and falsification, in regards to the email as well as the mix-up with the petition deadline, while they say that those were mistakes and unintentional, they did cause harm to our campaign,” she said.
Moving into Election Day on Tuesday, Solanki stressed how important it is that students trust and engage in the democratic process at UNC.
“Voting is so important in any type of election, and I think student body elections, especially in a year like this one, that role of SBP has so much weight and has the capability to do so much,” Solanki said.
