On March 18, Associated Students, Inc. (ASI) presidential candidate Carlie Hall posted a public video featuring an endorsement from Assemblymember David Tangipa. This resulted in an election code violation.

The video specifically violates section 9.3(c) of the 2025 ASI Election Handbook, which prohibits certain kinds of endorsements, according to a ruling by ASI officials.

The video displayed Hall and Tangipa together at the Capitol in Sacramento after Hall presented on one of Tangipa’s bills regarding student debt transparency. As a result of the complaint, Hall was required to remove the video from all platforms.
“The video itself had to [do] with the fact I was advocating for a bill that would give student loan relief,” Hall said in an email to The Collegian. “I am not entirely sure what my opponents hate so much about relieving students from their educational related debts, but to each their own.”
During the presidential debate on Monday, a student question was raised regarding the violation.

“You violated the campaign policies by posting endorsement videos from elected officials,” the question read. “If you don’t have integrity during the campaign, then how can students trust you will have integrity as ASI president?”

Hall responded by saying that campaign advertisements, including endorsements, have to be approved by both the ASI director, a staff position, and the ASI election commissioner, a student.

“The video in question featuring David Tangipa was approved by both the ASI director and the ASI elections commissioner prior to being posted,” Hall said in an email statement to The Collegian.

However, ASI tells a different story.

According to the ASI ruling, the video was approved based on Hall’s description of what would be included, not on the actual product. The approval was based on the grounds that Tangipa would be included in the video solely in regards to his position as an “at-large board member of the Fresno State Alumni Association, which was interpreted as a university-affiliated campus organization.”

The Collegian reached out to ASI Director James Martinez and Election Commissioner Mary Davis for a comment regarding the situation. Martinez referred back to the official ASI statement.

In her debate answer, Hall suggested that the two candidates running against her had raised concerns.

Read the presidential Election Code Violation notice

“Obviously the two on the sides of me have expressed issues with this video and we’ve been absolutely compliant with it,” Hall said. “But I do want to note that it was initially approved.”

Camalah Saleh, a presidential candidate, offered a rebuttal to this during the debate.

“That video is a clear example of how partisan this election is going to become, which is why it’s a violation,” Saleh said.

She then added that if a candidate cannot operate fairly during campaigning, it poses ethical concerns for a presidential term.

“If a candidate can’t play by the rules, how can they even be a leader for us?” Saleh said.

The other presidential candidate, Guadalupe Zamduio Telles, did not comment on the violation during the debate.

“Whether [other candidates] would like to violate violation codes or do whatever they want; it is no longer my issue,” Zamudio Telles said. “I’m here to, again, represent the student voice.”

In a statement to The Collegian, Zamudio Telles said that she trusts that the ASI election administrators are adequately handling the situation, however she is disappointed in her fellow candidates.

“It is disappointing to see candidates try to strengthen their campaigns by using unfair tactics, such as gaining endorsements from political figures,” Zamudio Telles said.

In response to the situation, Hall said her campaign remains strong and that she is not interested in entertaining things that are intended to bring her down.

“I believe I’ve run a very competitive campaign, one that some may view as threatening,” Hall said. “It’s disappointing that instead of engaging students on the real issues, others have resorted to filing reports in an attempt to take me down.”

However, Zamudio Telles said that everyone needs to be required to uphold the same standards in the name of equality and transparency.

“All candidates should be held accountable if an election violation is reported, following the proper procedures,” Zamudio Telles said.

Saleh told The Collegian she is also disappointed but remains focused on her own campaign.

“While it’s disappointing that other candidates broke the rules, Danielle and I are proud of the clean and fair campaign we’ve run,” Saleh said. “If elected ASI President, I will prioritize transparency within ASI and stay true to the standards we’ve set in place for student leaders.”

The conditional approval explicitly stated that the video should be framed specifically in that context.

However, upon further inspection and consultation the following was determined, according to the complaint documents:

The Fresno State Alumni Association, while affiliated with the university, is a separately governed nonprofit organization and does not meet the criteria of a recognized campus club or organization for endorsement purposes under the ASI Election Code.

The Alumni Association issued no official endorsement.

Individual members of the Alumni Association do not possess the authority to endorse ASI election candidates on behalf of the organization.

The initial approval was issued based on incomplete or misinterpretation of information, according to ASI, and “is therefore null and void.”

There are also four other potential violations: endorsements from off-campus individuals or groups, failure to properly disclose, nonpartisanship breach and misrepresentation of endorsements.

Tangipa was classified as a partisan elected official and an off-campus individual, according to the election handbook, therefore making him an ineligible endorser.

Receiving an endorsement from a state legislator is prohibited because it “may give the appearance that ASI is aligned with a political party, violating ASI’s obligation to impartiality,” according to the complaint document.

In order for Hall to remain in compliance with the ASI election codes, she was required to take down the video as well as any related content from all platforms effective immediately.

However, Hall maintained that the video did receive approval prior to posting.

“If something is approved that’s the only thing we have to go off of, and if it’s approved we’re going to post it,” Hall said.

The video has since been removed, but had it not, Hall was facing the potential disqualification for candidacy under section 9.9(a) of the election handbook.