Following Monday’s announcement at the ASB meeting that the election results would be invalidated and a re-election will be held, Dean of Student Affairs Deborah Miller-Calvert alleged the reasoning was because the voting system was down, and the ASB administration needed to validate that everyone who voted is a student, and claimed they couldn’t view the results.
The original voting polls for ASB elections were open from April 21 at 8 a.m. and closed on April 23 at 5 p.m..
In an interview with the Viking on April 28, ASB adviser Kim Hamon mentioned that the ASB administration was actively verifying results, making sure that those who voted were registered students.
“We’re still working on making sure that all the votes are valid. We also aim to be transparent right? And so, when the results are posted, we will be explaining why the results took so long,” Hamon said.
However, the election results were never released, raising concerns among election runners about whether the votes were actually verified.
When Miller-Calvert was asked whether the voting system had been working at one point, like Hamon suggested, she said she was unsure.
“I don’t know that, I think that’s where you know, we were trying to verify votes… We realized that there were technical difficulties and we could not verify votes,” Miller-Calvert said.
Hamon declined to comment further on the election results, saying the Viking had spoken with Miller-Calvert.
ASB President Priince Bass said he questioned the administration’s explanation during Monday’s ASB meeting when the re-election was announced, going as far as alleging the administration is withholding the original election results and believes they showed student trustee candidate Angeline Anderson winning.
Bass said he became skeptical of the decision to invalidate the results and pressed administrators on why a re-election was necessary.
Bass challenged Miller-Calvert’s explanation that officials need to validate whether voters are students or not, questioning why this process had not been done in previous elections.
“I’m like, so how come ya’ll never did this previously? Right?” Bass said.
He also goes on to mention Miller-Calvert’s statement inconsistencies. According to Bass, in her original response to questions on the election results she stated the digital system wasn’t working. After further prying, he claims, she slipped up.
“And then without her even thinking, she just reacted, ‘Margins have never been this close,’” Bass said.
When asked whether close margins influenced the decision to hold a re-election, Miller-Calvert denied it. “That is not true, I can’t tell that. I don’t have results.”
Miller-Calvert said in her interview that the validating procedure had been done in previous years.
The Viking also requested Hamon for the recording of Monday’s ASB meeting but was instructed to file a public records request.
This meeting was the administration’s only public statement about why the election was canceled and the decision to hold a re-election. No campus-wide email, social media post or other form of public statement was issued to inform students.
When asked why ASB officials haven’t done a public statement Miller-Calvert said, “I guess the ASB didn’t do that. It was public in the ASB meeting.”
While discussing the importance of student participation in ASB elections, Miller-Calvert described the student cabinet as the student voice on campus.
When asked what responsibilities the organization holds Miller-Calvert said,“I think that information is out there, right? They’re the student voice, so every ASB is a little bit different and what things they want to bring forward.”
When asked to provide examples of projects or decisions ASB has worked on, she referred those questions to be asked to student leaders and the ASB adviser.
Miller-Calvert insisted that she didn’t want to speak about any projects, despite going to the ASB meetings, “I don’t want to speak on their behalf.”
According to Miller-Calvert, for the new election, students were allowed to start campaigning on Tuesday with approved materials. The three-day polling period, according to Miller-Calvert, will begin once the voting system is repaired, though no official date has been announced.
Current Student Trustee Pise Leiataua declined to immediately comment on any matters regarding the ASB elections, and current ASB Secretary Angeline Anderson didn’t respond when the Viking reached out in a text.
When speaking to Interclub Council President Samuel Perez about whether he was satisfied with the administration’s transparency regarding the election process, Perez said he felt he received enough clarification during Monday’s meeting and wanted to move forward.
Perez repeatedly emphasized that ASB improves and learns from issues each year rather than directly addressing whether he believed the administration had been fully transparent.
“I still have questions but I got better clarifications and I understand the process is going to be better for the next year, I’m moving forward,” Perez said.
Perez mentioned that the ASB meeting consisted of cabinet members repeatedly asking officials questions about the elections.
He mentioned his desires for transparency in the new election, “We want clarification, how is the new system going to demonstrate, you know, this person is an active student or not. Cuz’ we wanna know, we want to inform the student,” Perez said.
Perez said that he wants there to be more time for candidates to talk to people. “We have 40,000 students technically registered and active, so we want more students… voting.”
According to Hamon in an email sent to the Viking, 235 students voted in the 2025-2026 ASB election, and in the year before in the 2024-2025 elections, 106 students voted. In the 2023-2024 “Fall Special Elections” 100 students voted, and in the ASB Elections 2023-2024 before the special election, 78 students voted.
Perez expanded, “I like students voting, but…I want to know the students know what they’re voting for, what does ASB do? What are the clubs doing? If I voted for ASB, what are the jobs that ASB do, when we (are) voting as the students.”
“I just want students to learn this is ASB. ASB is there for you guys to advocate in it,” Perez said.
Students can access the agendas for future and past ASB meetings on this page.
The next meeting will be held on Monday at the LAC in B-202 at 3 p.m. Here is the link to join online https://lbcc-edu.zoom.us/j/86826737965#success.
