Lavar Henderson and Abry Layrisson won the election to become LSU’s next student body president and vice president on Friday, emerging victorious after a chaotic election season marked by disqualifications, appeals and outside intervention.

The election drew 5,793 voters, one of the highest turnouts in the past three years, according to Election Commissioner Carlin Sekhani-Matthews.

“We couldn’t have done this without the hard work of every single member of our staff and our candidates. This victory belongs to the student body, not just us. We look forward to supporting and upholding our institution,” Henderson and Layrisson said in a joint statement.

Henderson, a political communication junior from Houma, and Layrisson, a political communication junior from Ponchatoula, centered their campaign on what they called the “Student First Agenda,” a platform focused on improving campus accessibility, expanding resources and making university operations more efficient.

Among their top priorities are expanding disability accommodations, improving campus transportation and streamlining student services.

The results, announced during a Zoom meeting, followed weeks of uncertainty as the Foret-Tatman: Forward campaign was disqualified twice over alleged campaign violations.

Its first disqualification stemmed from accusations of bribery after the ticket allegedly offered free food at a campaign event. That decision was overturned after state senators filed a legal brief supporting their case and Dean of Students Fran’Cee Brown-McClure reinstated the ticket.

After voting closed, the ticket faced another disqualification for failing to accurately report donations, but was again reinstated following review of the dean. Foret-Tatman: Forward tallied the second-most votes.