Brandon Maitlen's bid for ASUAF president officially ended this week, with Maitlen's appointment to the Senate.

After a summer of uncertainty, this surprising twist brings to a close a confusing and controversial election.

"This is the best possible solution to an imperfect situation," Maitlen said.

The fate of Maitlen's presidential dreams has been up in the air ever since he won last year's election, unseating the incumbent Thom Walker.  Walker contested those results, accusing Maitlen of holding an inappropriate barbecue on election day. 

In what many saw as a break down of the ASUAF election system, the Election Board disqualified Maitlen, giving Walker the win.

Several petitions were filed and multiple student groups formed, calling for a new election and even Walker's impeachment.  One petition died in the Senate last semester, the other was yet to be addressed by the Senate.

Both Maitlen and Walker are hoping the issue will be resolved now that Walker has announced he will be appointing Maitlen to the Senate.

The ASUAF Senate currently has ten vacancies, all of which will be appointed by Walker as president and approved by the Senate.

"I think Brandon will be an excellent addition to the Senate," Walker said.  "He will be a great asset to ASUAF."

For his part, Maitlen hopes that his term on the Senate will allow him to make many of the changes he would have pushed for as president.

"This is the only way for it to happen for any good to come of all of this," Maitlen said.  "People are going to say that I was bought off—but what's the alternative?  I wanted to find a way to stay involved and get things done."

Maitlen's priorities will include campus childcare, making university policies and documents easier to maneuver, and energizing the student body.

Maitlen knows that many of his supporters may not understand or like his decision to ask Walker for the appointment, but hopes they will see his rationale.

"Fighting this would have been taxing on my energy," he said, "and not at all helpful to students."

"I hope (my supporters) will see that fighting this thing would not have been effective way to make students' lives better here at ASUAF."

He is pleased, however, that the controversial election and its aftermath have made so many people angry.

"It would a mistake," Maitlen said, "not to use that anger to make this university a better place."

Maitlen, however, still sees many flaws in the election rules here on campus, and plans to work to get them fixed.  The rules and guidelines, he feels, are far too vague and open to individual interpretation by possibly biased parties.

"This situation occurred because of faulty guidelines and faulty descriptions," he said.

Walker, too, sees much room for improvement, and hopes that he and Maitlen's commitment to the student body will be stronger than any personal differences the two of them may have.

"We are just trying to move forward and create a relationship to help the students," Walker said.

According to Walker, any new election, which would have most like be held in November, would have wasted valuable time and money.  Both Walker and Maitlen see that time and resources better used to further their mission and goals for the student body.

"We can overcome our differences and work together to get things done," said Walker.

Walker will present Maitlen to the Senate on September 5.  The Senate bylaws state that the Senate must hold off any final vote of presidential appointments for at least another week.  Walker hopes that an exception will be made so that Maitlen can get right to work.

"I hope people see that there are things to be gained from this," said Walker.  "If we all work together, maybe we can get the changes made that we need."

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