After a general election that ended in controversy and a disbanded Elections Commission, students are heading into a runoff election to decide the next Howard University Student Association (HUSA) president and vice president. The election will take place Wednesday under a new oversight structure.
Two slates remain in the race: “The Pulse,” led by Bria Nartey for president and Brianna Artis for vice president, and “Beyond,” led by Naesoj Ware for president and Payton Garcia for vice president.
Both slates emerged as the top two finishers in the general election, while a third slate, “Power to the 65th,” led by Marlee Williams and Da’Quan Cooney, was knocked out after receiving the fewest votes.
On March 27, the general election saw a turnout of 4,923 out of 12,943 eligible voters, a rate of 38 percent. “Beyond” received 1,813 votes (41.58%), “Pulse” earned 1,422 votes (32.61%), and “Power to the 65th” followed with 1,120 votes (25.69%). No slate reached the required 50 percent majority, triggering the runoff.
Voting for the runoff will take place on April 23 between 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. via Election Buddy. Ballots will be sent to students’ Bison email accounts, and voters will need to use their Howard-issued ID numbers with two leading zeroes to access the system.
But before a new election could take place, the Elections Commission was removed from power entirely on March 28, after HUSA President Jay Jones issued an executive order formally “relieving” the Elections Commission of its duties.
During an interview with The Hilltop, Jones said her decision followed mounting student complaints about the Elections Commission and a reported series of complaints submitted to the Judiciary branch against them. One complaint submitted by the “Beyond” team stemmed from the commission’s issuance of more than 30 campaign strikes against their slate.
According to an email obtained by The Hilltop that was sent to all three HUSA executive slate candidates by the Judiciary, a Policy Board was created in place of the Elections Commission to oversee the runoff. The board includes representatives from the HUSA Senate, Judiciary and Executive branches and will operate under oversight from the Howard administration.
In the wake of the commission’s removal, a public letter was released through a joint Instagram post between the College of Arts and Sciences (COAS) student council and Cathy Hughes School of Communications student council (CHSOC), calling for the commission’s reinstatement. The post has since been deleted.
The letter listed six school council seals on the document as signatories, including the COAS student council and the CHSOC student council. Nartey is the current COAS student council president and Artis is the current CHSOC student council president. Nartey said in an interview that she and Artis coordinated the joint letter.
The School of Education (SOE), College of Engineering and Architecture (CEA), and College of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences (CNAHS) quickly released public communications through their Instagram accounts, denying formal involvement in the statement, which listed them as signatories. Each cited a lack of proper authorization and internal communication breakdowns.
Nartey and Artis said the statement was written to express solidarity with the Elections Commission after the executive order was announced.
“We moved hastily, and that was probably our biggest mistake,” Nartey said in response to the backlash.
Both candidates said they received verbal confirmation from the councils that they would review the statement. Still, they admitted they failed to secure written approval before releasing the letter with official school logos.
The “Pulse” and “Beyond” slates returned to campaigning this Monday and will conclude on election day. The runoff winners will serve as HUSA president and vice president for the 2025–2026 academic year.
Copy edited by Aniyah Genama
