Charlotte Shackelford was elected Associated Student Body vice president with 70.57% of the vote in a second runoff election on Tuesday night after 3,216 students voted in the election.
Shackelford, a junior political science major from Mandeville, Louisiana, ran a campaign focused on increasing students’ awareness of their senators. She also plans to implement an ASB Senate newsletter and to increase school spirit.
“I feel on top of the world. Honestly, my team has been so devoted. I could not do this alone,” Shackelford said. “My whole team has been so encouraging. I already have a to-do list of things.”
Shackelford defeated Sarah Doty, a junior public policy leadership major from Brookhaven.
Doty said she’s proud of her team and the work they’ve put into campaigning.
“It has been an uphill battle from the beginning, but I want to congratulate my friend Charlotte Shackelford and wish her a successful vice presidency,” Doty said. “I’ve got a lot of exciting things coming up this year and can’t wait to see what the future holds.”
Shackelford said some of the first tasks she plans to undertake are planning ASB Senate orientation and meeting with all the newly elected senators.
Shackelford is the first woman to be elected vice president in six years, and she said she hopes her new role will help her to inspire other women across campus.
Tuesday’s election comes after the ASB Judicial Council determined that the results of the initial vice presidential runoff were invalid. ASB Judicial Council Chair Alex Crouch released a report last week explaining that the attorney general’s office had incorrectly disqualified Doty from the vice presidential race and explaining why the second runoff was necessary to allow equal opportunity for both candidates to campaign.
Last Tuesday evening, when the initial election results were announced, Shackelford received 127 votes more than Doty, but the attorney general’s office has not released the results from the first runoff.
ASB Attorney General Austin Fiala said that, because the ASB Judicial Council invalidated the election, the results from the runoff were “destroyed.”
“I am pleased to report that no violations were committed by candidates or their representatives during this secondary runoff campaign and election,” Fiala said.
Shackelford will be inaugurated on April 26 along with the rest of the executive officers and newly elected senators.
