AMICUS BRIEFI.
TNF lawfully declared his candidacy in the appropriate thread before it was closed and the voting both open. OSPR says:
Simply put, the law does not say the Candidacy Declaration Thread must only be open for a maximum of 48 hours. It says it has to be open for that long. It specifically states that at some point
after 48 hours is elapsed the VP must end the declaration period by closing the thread and opening the Election Thread.
Because TNF declared before the thread was closed he was a valid candidate and should have been on the ballot.