Ever since their disqualification on the night of the primary election, Executive candidates Bret Jacobson and Matt Cook have been saying they never broke election rules.
But on Friday, they finally had a chance to plead their case to the ASUO Constitution Court — the group with the power to restore the pair to the ballot.
During the matinee of four hearings Friday, Jacobson also said the ASUO Elections Board violated their right to due process.
Jacobson and Cook admitted distributing campaign fliers in residence halls before the primary election, but they said a resident let them into the halls and accompanied them while they distributed.
The board used elections and University Housing rules barring campaigning in the residence halls to make its decision, but Jacobson pointed out to the court that University Housing never convicted the pair of breaking any rules.
But vice presidential candidate Jeff Oliver, who filed the grievance that led to the disqualification, said regardless of Housing rules, the Jacobson campaign broke equal-access rules because the residence halls are locked.
“I don’t feel they needed to be cited by Housing,” Oliver said. “There’s a lot of stuff that’s unfair, but you’ve got to follow the rules.”
Jacobson also criticized the board for not informing them of the grievance after Oliver filed it two days before the primary.

But ASUO Elections Board member Emily Sedgwick, who investigated Oliver’s accusations, said she contacted Jacobson the night before the primary ended.
“They didn’t have the actual grievance in their hands, but they knew,” she said.
Jacobson told the court the few hours he had to respond before the board disqualified them was not enough time.
ASUO Elections Rules do not designate that a specific person or group has to serve a party with a grievance, and Justice Alan Tauber wondered if it was legal for someone such as Oliver to file a grievance, and if the board could rule and remove a candidate without the candidate ever knowing about the grievance.
If the court overturns the Election Board’s decision, Jacobson and Cook will advance to the general election, set to begin sometime spring term. Jacobson and Cook placed second in the primary, but third-place finishers Eric Bailey and Oliver advanced after the disqualification.
Chief Justice Rob Raschio originally said the court would release a ruling by Monday, but said Friday the deadline might be pushed to during or after spring break.