UPDATE: Madison Gardner and Antonio Guevara have been disqualified from Student Government elections due to failing to properly submit all campaign expenditures and fines, according to the Election Supervisory Board. This is the second disqualification of Gardner and Guevara after just recently being reinstated onto the ballot.

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The University of Texas Election Supervisory Board met Tuesday night to hear five counts of evidence over failure to expenditure financials brought against Student Government presidential candidate Madison Gardner and running mate Antonio Guevara.

The counts were brought against the candidates by self-proclaimed “advocate for student’s rights for a fair election” and SG law school representative Austin Carlson. Aakash Kumar, spokesperson for the Madison and Antonio campaign, argued the ESB was “nitpicking” in its accusations, and that the possibility of disqualification for these reasons could deter students for running in future elections.

Evidence brought against the campaign was fostered on claims of negligence in that Madison and Antonio knew or should have known to accurately report their financial statements. Carlson opened with a plea for the board to consider implications of a nominee having an unfair advantage and “buying an election.”

“You can’t really have a fair election if you’re nitpicking everything here,” said Kumar.

Arguments centered on the campaign’s website that was constructed by A&M student James Skidmore, whom allegedly builds student websites at no cost in order to add to his portfolio. Carlson pressed the campaign should report this service to election expenses as the stated “$500 to $1000” charge it would be to others seeking its services.

The three website domains registered to a cleaning service that Madison created were also cited as evidence in failure to report financial statements. Carlson said each domain name is an $18 fee, and only one was reported as in use. The domain name reported is not what Madison and Antonio are currently using for their campaign. Madison and Antonio admitted to this saying three were brought, but the intention was only to use one upon deciding which of the three was best. Kumar stated this is a $7 charge that the campaign admits needs to be covered.

Antonio and Madison were also questioned by Carlson on their use of an event, described by the campaign as a hip-hop couture fashion show, to allegedly promote themselves. A picture from the event shows Madison wearing a “Madison and Antonio” shirt that he said was created in “two minutes,” on the spot, with “free” materials provided by the event. Madison said he had been picked out of the crowd at random to compete in the side-show t-shirt design contest. Carlson stated that these materials still need to be expensed because they were later used to promote the campaign via a Twitter photo.

Carlson also questioned Madison and Antonio’s use of “Unite Texas” boards that were held by a crowd of “friends” in front of the capital. Campaign slogans were photoshopped into pictures that were taken for campaign purposes. Kumar questioned the jurisdiction of the ESB in this matter, to which Carlson said Madison and Antonio should have more discretion because they were in a public place where students were present.

“There is a pattern of misstated things, a pattern of things not in the record,” said Carlson. “There is enough here to show of not accurately stating financials.”

The unlawful use of the “Hook ‘em” trademark in Twitter was also challenged by Carlson. Kumar said that UT’s licensed trademark contains a space, which their Twitter version does not. The trademark adopted by the campaign used to belong to a fishing company that has not paid for the license, and the trademark has now been released to the public for use.

“When you consider an argument, really consider it in what is really going on here,” said Kumar.

Carlson said the ESB is here to be the “watchdog” throughout the election, and that they should make decisions to keep the election fair. Carlson called for disqualification of the campaign on these grounds.

“Ultimately you’re deciding what is a fair and free election,” said Kumar, who said that, over the years, the election has dwindled in both those who vote and run for office.

Before breaking for deliberation, the board questioned why Madison and Antonio had yet to pay the 10 percent fine for board rentals that had earlier been ruled as a failed expense. The campaign replied that the fine had slipped their mind.

“This alone shows a pattern, but there might be other things out there that show consistent violations of the financial campaign code,” said Carlson.

The board has 48 hours to reach a decision on whether or not to disqualify Madison and Antonio. Elections are scheduled for March 28 and 29.