Two Government of the Student Body members who ran for GSB president and vice president this semester appeared before the GSB Supreme Court Wednesday night.

The GSB Elections Commission claimed Steve Medanic and Andrew Kothenbeutel had illegally placed posters on some residence hall floors during this semester’s GSB elections. Three hundred dollars of their campaign reimbursement was withheld.

At the hearing, Kothenbeutel was given 30 minutes to speak before the Supreme Court on behalf of Medanic and himself. Timothy Kearns, elections vice commissioner and Daily columnist, spoke for 30 minutes on behalf of the elections commission.

Kothenbeutel said he and Medanic were informed they had posters placed illegally at 12:23 a.m. March 11, the first day of the GSB elections. Medanic said someone from the Schneider/Darr slate told the elections commission that Medanic and Kothenbeutel had placed posters in residence hall floors without the required permission of the resident assistant or hall president.

“[The posters] had been there over a week,” Medanic said. “The fact that it was brought up the day of the election kind of bothers me.”

He said they were denied due process and were coerced into appearing at a trial held by the elections commission, which did not give them adequate time to investigate the charges against them.

Kothenbeutel said because he and Medanic were busy with classes, meetings and the election, they did not have enough time to prepare.

“We were told they were going to meet anyway,” Kothenbeutel said. “We were cornered, we were coerced and we were forced into this option.”

Medanic and Kothenbeutel both said they felt the elections commission had already discussed the fines against them and made a decision before the trial.

Kothenbeutel had several complaints pertaining to the correct use of due process according to the bylaws, including that there are records of meeting minutes missing, the GSB president was not informed of the hearing and the exact locations of the illegally placed posters were not revealed.

Kearns said the elections commission did follow due process, and Medanic and Kothenbeutel were given adequate time to prepare and respond.

“This has nothing to do with T.J. and Joe – they beat us fair and square,” Medanic said. “We didn’t get a fair chance to defend ourselves. We only had 90 minutes to prepare our defense.”

Kearns said this allegation was “grossly incorrect” and they had to act immediately because “the integrity of the election was in serious question.”

“I would say that we gave them a fair hearing,” he said.

The Supreme Court will make a formal decision within a week.