After weeks of collecting signatures to repeal the Social Host Ordinance, evidence surfaced that members of the Lamar Wise and Amy Jones ASUO campaign were prematurely campaigning.

On March 9, ASUO Sen. Ben Rudin submitted a grievance against five members of the campaign, including Wise and Jones. Rudin provided evidence and claimed that the campaign had violated ASUO Elections Rules 7.3 and 9.7.

Article 7.3 states that no direct voter interaction may begin until April 8, 2013, and Article 9.7 outlines what severe campaign violations include.

In response to the grievance, the members argued that it should be dismissed, as the ASUO Elections Rules are only binding on campaigns that have formally filed with the Elections Board — something Wise and Jones have not done. They also argued that ruling against them would violate their First Amendment rights under the United States Constitution.

The Elections Board was not convinced that the members were acting on their own and independently assisting the Lane County Democrats.

“If the Respondents were simply independently assisting the Lane County Democrats in the hopes of gaining more signatures against the Social Host Ordinance, the Elections Board would fine in their favor. However, the evidence suggests this was not the case,” the Elections Board opinion read.

The board ruled that the campaign was in violation of ASUO Elections Rule 7.3 and issued the campaign a warning.

“Despite these clear violations, the Elections Board is aware that people make mistakes and this is still very early in the election,” the opinion read. “For these reasons, the Elections Board is issuing no sanctions based on the Respondents’ violation of 7.3.”