Three candidates in last month's ASI elections stood before a judiciary board Wednesday in an attempt to disqualify elected members of the SF4U party, but were ultimately turned down.

Although Abtin Forghani, Mike Silberg, and John Bergman pled their cases for nearly two hours, citing violations of the campaign posting rules in the Election Code, all three grievances were dismissed by the board.

The alleged campaign violations include posting materials on bulletin boards, windows, lampposts, and other areas of campus and the dorms without permission. The plaintiffs presented photographic and video evidence and called two witnesses. The board, none of whom ran in the current election, agreed that proof of violations must show the actual, physical act of candidates unlawfully posting materials.

Bergman, who ran for VP of Finance, blasted the board for not implementing the rules that are in place.

"This is an issue of principles and integrity and the code of standards that we all agreed to," said Bergman at the hearing. "Now the election codes are worthless. What's the point of a conduct code if no one follows it?"

Graduate representative Isabel Millan, the appointed chief justice presiding over the hearing, said that the board only had the authority to "disqualify or not disqualify" candidates, and that the evidence presented was not strong enough to lead to such severe punishment.

"There is only A and B. There is no middle ground," said board member and Education Representative Hazel Jay, 28. "It wouldn't be fair to give you the outcome you want."

"You have to look at it holistically," board member and Sophomore Class representative Nadia Moreira, opined. "We can't deny the hundreds of willing voters who elected these people."

"Yes, there is proof of illegal postings, but there is no way for us to know who put them there," Millan said.

"We need to physically see someone placing flyers illegally," said board member and Ethnic Studies representative Joshua Castro, 26. "I'm just hearing a lot of 'He said, she said'."

Mike Silberg, 33, who ran for president, noted that his LEAD party had ample opportunity to also illegally post campaign materials but decided against it. "We knew it would cost us votes but we wanted to run a fair and honest campaign."

Maire Fowler, the ASI president elect, stood to lose her position had the board voted to disqualify. She said the board made the right decision.

"I think it was appropriate," said Fowler, 22. "And getting students more involved in the process is the best outcome of this."

Before the hearing Silberg said in a statement, “It’s unfortunate that the Associated Students judiciary has never disqualified a candidate no matter how many violations were committed. It’s lead to a culture where violating election rules is considered acceptable.”

Throughout the hearing, Castro acknowleged that the Election Code was "vague and imperfect and needs to be amended," but Silberg argued that that fact had nothing to do with the case at hand.

Abtin Forghani, who ran for Creative Arts representative, thought the level of proof the board required was "unreasonable". Because ASI falls under state non-profit laws he said a petition for a lawsuit will be filed with the Superior Court of San Francisco.

"We have representation. We expected this, we knew it would happen," Forghani said. "I trust the actual judicial system and not the school's."