Following three weeks of delay to election results, the 2025 Associated Students Spring General Election concluded with a 20.42% voter turnout. Results were announced at the Interactive Learning Pavilion room 2302 at 7 p.m. on Thursday, an hour later than slated.
Following three weeks of delay to results, the 2025 A.S Spring General Election concluded with a 20.42% voter turnout. Shengyu Zhang / Daily Nexus
The election was intended to run from 8 a.m. on May 5 to 12 p.m. on May 9 but was extended to May 12 at 12 p.m. with only 13.2% voter turnout, then again to May 13 at 4 p.m. when it reached 17.01% voter turnout before being extended for the third and final time to May 15 at 4 p.m.
These extensions came after two weeks of election delay following an April 29 Judicial Council (JC) decision finding election interference within the Senate. The Elections Board extended the candidacy deadline, originally March 5, to May 2, resulting in three new executive and eight new senate candidates being added to the official ballot.
Two other JC cases petitioned against senators were adjudicated as well. Third-year history and global studies double major Enri Lala was alleged to have participated in electoral interference by “convincing his opponents to drop out of this race for executive office” and using the legislative institution and privileged information to prevent candidates from running against him, according to a JC decision letter.
Third-year political science and philosophy double major, Senate First President Pro-tempore and presidential candidate Daniyal “Dan” Siddiqui was disqualified from the election after being charged with three counts of Membership Rights violations and one count of Abuse of Power in a JC case brought forward by Associated Students (A.S.) Attorney General and fourth-year chemistry major Eric Carlson.
Siddiqui submitted a request to have his counts appealed, which was denied just an hour before the election results came out.
4,376 students voted in the election, the A.S. Elections Board announced. 1,222 students started a ballot but did not finish. This marks the lowest voter turnout in the last decade. Earlier this year, A.S. also held a winter quarter special election, which failed to go through due to receiving only 492 votes, or a 2.2% voter turnout, falling below the 20% needed for ratification.
The spring ballot included nine A.S. executive and 36 senate candidates, as well as numerous reaffirmations and fee initiatives from campus organizations.
All A.S. reaffirmations included in the ballot passed. Only one of the four fee initiatives on the ballot — A.S. Food Bank — passed. Fee increases for A.S. Gaucho Global Commission, KCSB and a new fee for the A.S. Strategic Operations Office failed.
The three constitutional amendments up for vote — Article X Elections Timeline, Article IX Student Involvement Personnel and The Representative Party Act — all passed.
There were no candidates for the College of Creative Studies Senator, and the position remains unfilled.
The full slate of elected senators, executives, passed reaffirmations and fee directives can be viewed on the Nexus website. The election results are also posted on the A.S. Elections Board website.
Shengyu Zhang / Daily Nexus
The UC Santa Barbara student body elected third-year global studies, communication and Spanish triple major Le Anh Metzger for student body president, Lala for Internal Vice President (IVP), second-year political science major E.J. Raad for External Vice President for Local Affairs (EVPLA), fourth-year psychological and brain sciences major Leiya Kadah for External Vice President for Statewide Affairs (EVPSA) and third-year psychological and brain sciences major Sydney Bivins for Student Advocate General (S.A.G.).
Following the disqualification of Siddiqui, former write-in candidate Metzger won the race for president with 3,015 votes.
“I’m excited. I’m really excited about, you know, being able to step into the role and get started right away. I’m doing some good things, getting the staff, the office and the Cabinet set up, and having transition meetings over the next few weeks to try to really be prepared to be able to take this privilege and make good on the promises I made,” Metzger said.
When Metzger enters the office, her first priorities are to support the facilitation of the Isla Vista Rental Inspection Pilot Program and work with the Isla Vista Tenants Union. In regards to the verdict of the JC case which disqualified Siddiqui, Metzger said the JC “put in a lot of time and effort and thought into making their decision.” She declined to further comment on this topic.
Metzger said the election delay had an impact on the low voter turnout this election. She said she wants to work on streamlining the elections process, and use her presidency as a platform to spread the word about elections next academic year.
A.S. Associate Director of Technology & Strategic Communications Sean Lieberman did not respond to multiple requests for the total vote count for Siddiqui, whose name remained on the ballot despite votes for him not being counted towards the tabulation of results.
Current A.S. president and third-year political science and sociology double major Nayali Broadway said she wants to take more time than she was granted to prepare Metzger for the role.
“Last year when I came into my position, I felt really unprepared. I think with my predecessor, we only had about maybe one or two meetings, and they were really short and brief,” Broadway said. “However, with Le Anh, I really want to take the time to show her everything that she should know, and take the time to really get into like the nitty gritty of things, because I feel like if I had been transitioned properly, then there were some things that I probably could have handled better going into it.”
Lala won the race for IVP with 81.20% of the vote, beating opposing candidate third-year economics and accounting major Allan Maldonado. Lala said he doesn’t anticipate “any major hiccups” throughout the turnover process, as his experience having chaired the Senate before has prepared him for his term. One of his main goals right now is to fully staff his office.
“Standing rules will be first, those will be made very clear. The projects and legislation, that it will be expected of all senators. And then we’ll be sending out an email across the student body to recruit for the main positions in the internal vice president’s office and all relevant positions. And we’re going to get to work immediately on the major projects,” Lala said.
He noted that the elections holdup made campaigning “difficult” for candidates and “confusing” for voters.
“People thought that the election was off or I think they also confused it with the winter special election to some extent, so I think it made it really difficult on everyone involved. I think it’s the duty of senior leaders, of all of us who are involved this year, to make sure this doesn’t happen next year,” Lala said.
Maldonado received 18.80% of votes and did not respond to requests for comment.
Current IVP Açúcar Pinto said they think Lala will be equipped to handle A.S. financial systems, per his previous work as a senator this year and understanding of legal code. They voiced concerns over Lala’s ability to connect with students from different backgrounds, noting previous statements that he sees the IVP as a non-partisan party.
“I don’t think that he will be as well of an advisor as I was, and maybe I’m saying this out of ego, but like I said before, the best people to advise on a situation are the people going through it,” Pinto said. “When we’re talking about queer and trans students, when we’re talking about undocumented students, I don’t think that he will be able to advise to the same capacity as we were [the 75th senate], especially when we’re talking about students of color and and their experience with hate crimes on this campus.”
Raad won the race for EVPLA with 56.86% of the vote, beating opposing candidate second-year political science major Neha Kumran.
“I’m super happy and grateful that I won, of course, and my opponent did great as well. So it’s just good on both ends,” Raad said.
Raad said the election extension “made the process more stressful,” but he is relieved that the election is over. The first things Raad plans to address are housing issues by creating a “rate my [landlord]” website, as well as providing water filters through the Pardall Center. Raad also said he’s going to immediately start fighting to get the Restorative Justice program unsuspended for Deltopia, as it has been for the last two years.
“I’ll try to get the absolute best staff I can. And from there, it’s gonna be getting that policy agenda written down, getting all the staff on board and really executing right when we get into it for this year. So I’m excited,” Raad said.
Kumran received 43.14% of votes. She believes Raad will do a “great job,” and hopes he will focus on helping “reduce sexual assault [cases],” which was one of her platform points.
“I really hope that he does that justice for the both of us. I know he was talking about helping reduce sexual assault by possibly partnering with [Standing Together to End Sexual Assault],” Kumran said. “I think that from what he said, if he actually follows through on it, I think he’ll do good.”
As for Kumran, she plans on still being involved in A.S. and student government. She felt the election extension added “a lot of unnecessary stress” for both candidates and the student body.
“I know it wasn’t the Elections Board’s fault, and I think they were really good, very communicative throughout the whole thing,” Kumran said. “I think that whole thing was a mess, but I think they did what they could with what they had. I think they handled it as best they could have.”
Current EVPLA and fourth-year history of public policy and law major Owen Meyers said Raad “seems like a great guy” and was fond of his experience working with public interest, such as supplying water filters to I.V. residents. He hopes that Raad will “remember the aspects of inclusivity” attached to the role.
“I think what I liked about Neha [Kumran] is that, because she met with me very often, she was able to kind of gauge what I wanted to continue. So as long as E.J. [Raad] meets with me about things that I’ve done, and then would like to continue, I would love that,” Meyers said.
Kadah won her unopposed bid for EVPSA. She did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Current EVPSA fourth-year communication and sociology double major Monica Mekhlouf said they have already begun familiarizing Kadah with their office through conversations with staff and connecting her with events. Mekhlouf hopes this makes the transition less “jarring” and aims to hand off various projects for Kadah to take the lead on.
“Although she hasn’t been [an] employee in my office, she has certainly attended conferences, rallies we’ve held, events, we’ve sent her to multiple Regents meetings, and she has just all around been such an outspoken and active student. I would say also, we have a personal relationship,” Mekhlouf said.
Regarding election delays, Mekhlouf said the A.S. Attorney General “acted very rashly” in the JC case against Siddqui, which she said was “biased” and “unfair.”
“I think that watching someone be removed as a candidate in such a quick and under-the-table manner shocked me, shocked the student body, certainly. Especially after three attempts to get the student body to vote at all, to completely remove a presidential candidate felt very undemocratic,” Mekhlouf said.
Bivins won the race for S.A.G. with 76.50% of the vote, defeating third-year political science major Santino Gigliotti. She said the election delay was “troublesome,” but is now looking forward to hiring the rest of her office.
“First thing on my mind is hiring and really giving the rest of the undergrad population a chance to join my office and really looking for some passionate people wanting to be case workers or wanting to do that external work,” Bivins said.
Gigliotti received 23.50% of votes and did not respond to requests for comment.
As chief of staff in current S.A.G., third-year computer science major Alvin Wang’s office, Bivins has already prepared to step into the role.
“We’ve been working through this transition throughout this whole quarter, so it’s not something that’s gonna be super sudden,” Bivins said.
In total, Bivins has worked in the Office of the Student Advocate for two years and since Wang graduated in the winter, she has already taken on several S.A.G. duties.
“To be Student Advocate General, there’s a high bar to clear in terms of experience, and maybe [Gigliotti would] be a good S.A.G. But I truly believe that Sydney will be the best S.A.G. that we’ve had in the last decade,” Wang said. “I’ve already fully imparted all my knowledge to her.”
A version of this article appeared on p. 1 of the May 22, 2025 print edition of the Daily Nexus.
Literally no one cares except a small group of self-absorbed future “activists”.
Haha if you’re gonna continue to write about the JC trial being “unfair,” why don’t you ask Siddiqui to release the evidence — THE SAME EVIDENCE HE ASKED JC TO KEEP CONFIDENTIAL BECAUSE HE KNOWS ITS DAMNING.