Dan Weber, who was announced the winner of the election for student trustee last Thursday, is getting ready to complete the paperwork to appeal the decision made by the Student Election Commission on Friday to give the position to runner-up Matt Reschke.

After more than an hour of deliberation Friday afternoon, the commission unanimously decided not to certify Weber’s victory after other candidates filed complaints against him claiming he broke election commission rules.

“We felt the conduct of Dan Weber and his campaign was egregious enough so as to materially effect the outcome of the election,” said Mike Wilson, chairman of the SEC.

“Obviously with the great stakes behind the ruling, we wanted to make sure we got it right.”

Allegations brought against Weber included that he was allegedly campaigning in computer labs at the Undergraduate Library and residence halls, posting campaign signs in illegal places such as classrooms, campaigning in residence halls and dining halls without a canvasing license, and campaigning in a private residence hall, Wilson said.

“The student election commission has made their decision and the campus has to look at it,” said current student trustee Paul Schmitt.

“In the future, candidates just can’t cheat.”

Schmitt presented testimony against Weber, as did student trustee candidates Chris Cox, Martin St. Aubin and Matt Reschke. Illinois Student Senate vice president external Vikram Chaudhery also testified.

Three other students also came forth with testimony of Weber violating SEC codes.

Complaints were filed that Weber was campaigning in public computer labs, posting signs in classrooms and campaigning in residence halls

In presenting his defense, Weber said he was not aware of many of the SEC codes he was breaking, but Mike Wilson, chairman of the SEC, said ignorance was not an excuse.

In general, Weber said he was unhappy with the way the hearing was run, and thought it was stacked against him.

“If I had been given the formal complaints I would have had a much better defense,” Weber said.

“I wasn’t even shown the pictures and the testimonies.”

He also said he thinks the people who brought testimonies against him were biased.

“The people who brought up allegations against me were motivated to have a different student trustee,” Weber said.

He said many of the students who brought up complaints were from Reschke supporters and supporters of Roberto Martell, who received the third-most votes.

However, due to the volume of formal complaints filed, others have not reported this bias.

“None of the candidates had a vested interest in Matt Reschke, except Matt Reschke,” Schmitt said.

Weber said he plans to file his paperwork to appeal the SEC’s decision as soon as possible.

This will bring him before a moot court in the College of Law.

However, due to the unanimous decision made by the SEC, it seems unlikely the ruling will be overturned to Weber as the future trustee, Schmitt said.

“The decision was unanimous,” Schmitt added. “There was nothing shady about this.”