The Black Student Union re-election Thursday resulted in Brandon Smith, a political science and international studies sophomore, once again being elected BSU president.
Smith received 212 votes for president, while his opponent, Maurice Gipson, received 112 votes, Landon Franklin was elected vice president with 203 votes, defeating Teressa Breaux, who received 120 votes.
Gipson had appealed the first election results, citing violations to the Student Government code used in the first election. Gipson alleged three violations to the SG election code.
In his appeal to the BSU election commission, Gipson said in the first election, presidential and vice presidential candidates were not listed together as a ticket, resulting in voter confusion. In addition, Gipson said sample ballots were not posted outside the SG executive office, and the voting time was changed from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m.
      The BSU election commission heard Gipson’s appeal April 10. The commission then decided to hold a re-election using the BSU’s own election code to ensure fair results.
Aaron Bastian, BSU vice president, said the BSU did not realize it had its own election code before the first election. Once the BSU election code was discovered, the commission chose to use it in the re-election. The results announced Thursday night were signed and certified by the BSU election commission.
In a statement, Smith said he and Franklin were thankful to once again receive the vote of the people.
“Not only did people hear our issues, they joined the fight to return integrity to an election cycle that was often characterized as a political mockery,” Smith said. “We renew the commitment to our supporters, friends and constituents that we mean revolutionary change and we mean it now.”
Neither Gipson nor Breaux could be reached for comment by press time.