WUSA elections candidate Friday Saleh submitted a request on the morning of Jan. 30, to change from being a candidate for the role of director to being a candidate for president. The change was approved by the Chief Returning Officer of the election. At the close of the nomination period, on Jan. 23, Saleh had valid nomination forms for president and director. 

At the start of the campaign period, Saleh’s name was listed on both the presidential and director candidate lists. However, it was then removed from the former and has not been added back.

Saleh was actively running for the director seat and they have campaign posters around campus specifically listing them as a candidate for director.

At Thursday’s General Election Debate, Saleh said that it was a “hard decision” for them to switch from the director to the presidential race. Initially wanting to join team Horizon as a director candidate, Saleh says they decided to take the leap after realising that “this campus is not accessible” because of their lived experiences as a person with a disability.

Under the Election and Referenda Procedure Clause 8.12, a member of the Federation of Students may not run concurrently for two board positions. This includes the candidacy of an officer concurrently with that of a director or candidacy for two officer positions concurrently.

“Now the candidate wants to change their position… It’s the CRO’s prerogative and discretion to look at the circumstances and to also look at what would happen? Is it a logistical approach? Do we have to do anything way out of scope? In this case, no,” said Chief Returning Officer Marvin Adesanya.

Adesanya explained that after the nomination period Saleh has confirmed their candidacy for director but had not explicitly withdrawn from the presidential race. He added that on Thursday morning, they confirmed their candidacy for president and withdrew from the director race. 

According to Adesanya, Saleh was allowed to do this particularly because they had qualified for both races and had not clearly expressed their desire to be removed from the presidential race.

“It’s a discretionary measure – a candidate expressed intention to change the candidacy before the voting period commences,” Adesanya said. When asked what the latest time a candidate would have to change their position, Adesanya said that would be when voting begins. 

The voting period starts on Feb. 3. Both the campaign and the voting period end on Feb. 9.

Imprint was informed of this change at about 11:50 a.m., momentarily just before the president portion of the 2025-2026 General Election Debate, an event that included all president and vice president candidates. Saleh was permitted to join the debate.