After a two-week postponement, the Associated Students spring quarter general election resumed, with voting open from May 5-9. Following an April 29 Judicial Council decision finding election interference in the Senate, the Elections Board extended the candidacy deadline to May 2, resulting in three new executive and eight new senate candidates on the official ballot.
The three new executive candidates are Le Anh Metzger for president, Allan Maldonado for internal vice president and Santino Gigliotti for student advocate general. Metzger was previously running as a write-in candidate before declaring last week.
The internal vice president and legislative branch of Associated Students (A.S.) were found to have engaged in interference with the spring quarter general election on April 29, per an A.S. Judicial Council ruling. According to the decision letter, a motion made at the April 16 senate meeting to allow the Elections Board to accept candidates past the deadline violated A.S. Senate Standing Policy 10.
A.S. Elections Board chair and second-year political science major Ruby Hewitt said the Judicial Council hearing was “thorough.” According to Hewitt, they were able to bypass the Week 5 spring election deadline listed in A.S. Legal Code through approval by the University of California Office of the President.
“The [Judicial Council] worked with the elections board pretty closely after that in trying to get a decision out quickly. It was clear to me that they understood the importance of making sure that their decision went smoothly, regardless of what the decision was,” she said.
Hewitt worked with the Judicial Council throughout the process to figure out the elections timeline. Although the Judicial Council suggested a candidacy deadline May 2 at 6 p.m., the Elections Board set it for 12 p.m. because candidates must first be verified with the registrar.
“I went back and forth with them a little bit on the dates of the election to try and make it so that we had as much time for students to have as much turnout as possible,” Hewitt said. “We went back and forth a little bit on trying to accommodate their recommendation, while also trying to make sure that everything on the back end of running an election is feasible and that we meet that turnout within the five days.”
As of Tuesday, 1,076 students have voted, which is around 5.02% of the undergraduate student body. According to A.S. Legal Code, the election must reach a voter threshold of 20% in order to be ratified. The Elections Board will extend voting past the current deadline of Friday at 12 p.m. if this threshold is not met. As of now, election results are set to be announced Friday at the University Center Hub; the time is to be determined.
A version of this article appeared on p. 1 of the May 8, 2025 print edition of the Daily Nexus.
