Amid allegations and voter confusion, the Black Student Union will hold officer re-elections Thursday.
The BSU serves as a governing body of University black student organizations, organizing and promoting their various activities.
In the initial elections held April 9, Brandon Smith received 147 votes for president, while Maurice Gipson received 108 votes.
The first elections were held in accordance with the Student Government election code. Melody Robinson, a BSU elections committee member, said the BSU adopted the SG code primarily to moderate campaigning.
Gipson alleged several violations to this code in the BSU elections, including discrepancies in voting for president and vice president, a change in the voting time and sample ballots not being posted outside the SG executive office.
The BSU elections committee heard Gipson’s appeal April 10.
Ralph Johnson, a BSU elections committee member, said the committee felt a re-election was the only way to ensure fair results.
“The decision was made based on the fact that his appeal was sufficient enough for the results to change,” Johnson said.
Robinson said to the best of her knowledge, this was the first time the BSU would hold a re-election.
Johnson said the BSU election code will be used in this election instead of the SG code.
“The BSU constitution and the SG code didn’t really fit each other,” Johnson said. “We thought it would be better to revert back to the BSU election code.”
Gipson said he was “shocked and excited” about the decision to have another election.
“Many people don’t get that second chance,” he said. “I’m just glad that everyone will be able to voice their opinion.”
Gipson said despite any tension with the BSU election committee, he was pleased with the result.
“Regardless of anything else, I see that they listened to the facts and did their job,” he said.
Smith said he was prepared for the re-election.
“My running mate and I are prepared to continue campaigning,” Smith said. “We’re confident that with hard work, we can do it again.”
The elections will be held from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the African American Cultural Center. All full-time students are invited to vote.