Madhav Prakash ’27, Associated Students of Stanford University (ASSU) Executive candidate, alleged that Undergraduate Senate (UGS) Chair David Sengthay’s ’26 endorsement of the “FARM-RAISED” ticket violated campaign guidelines.
Prakash under the “No Brakes” ticket alongside Eva Lacy ’27, filed a complaint with the ASSU Constitutional Council Wednesday. In his complaint, Prakash stated that Sengthay’s endorsement of the slate, composed of Jared Hammerstrom ’27 and Celeste Vargas ’27, violated the ASSU elections rule. “ASSU officers cannot endorse in their official capacity,” he wrote in an email obtained by The Daily. He called for Hammerstrom and Vargas to take responsibility for the alleged violation.
The Elections Commission ruled that it was not a violation. The ASSU Constitutional Council has yet to determine whether they will accept, deny or defer the case.
“I believe there has been collusion between candidates and current ASSU officers to influence the results of this spring general elections that constitutes a violation of the governing documents,” Prakash wrote to The Daily.
On Wednesday, Sengthay wrote an email to the student body endorsing Hammerstrom and Vargas on behalf of the Asian American Student Association, the Black Student Union, the First-Generation and/or Low-Income Partnership, the Stanford American Indian Organization, the Stanford Powwow and Stanford Hermanas.
“Our communities need people who know how to get things done. We know that Jared and Celeste are those people,” Sengthay wrote in the email.
In his signature on the email, Sengthay noted his position as current UGS chair but clarified that his title is for identification purposes only.
“[Prakash’s] complaint mischaracterizes what happened,” Sengthay wrote to The Daily. “I sent an endorsement email in my personal capacity as part of a coalition of student organizations, not through any ASSU communication channel.”
Prakash first brought the issue to the ASSU Elections Commission. In emails obtained by The Daily, the elections commission wrote to Prakash, “We found that his email was not sent or ostensibly sent as an official communication.”
The Elections Commission also emailed Sengthay, Vargas and Hammerstrom regarding the endorsement email, urging them to “please exercise utmost caution with [their] communications.” Sengthay replied, noting he would “take [their] guidance seriously.”
After the Elections Commission ruled that it was not a violation, Prakash raised the complaint to the ASSU Constitutional Council.
“The Council may only deny a case if it finds the complaint frivolous by an absolute majority vote,” the Constitutional Council wrote to The Daily. “If accepted, a hearing is scheduled within seven days of acceptance.”
“The Elections Commission has already reviewed this and found no violations committed by either Jared or Celeste,” Hammerstrom wrote to The Daily. “Both Celeste and I worked hard to run a campaign grounded in respect for the process and the Stanford community, and we’re confident in that.”
In his email to the elections commission, Prakash also noted that former UGS co-chair Gordon Allen ’26 posted from his verified Fizz account endorsing Hammerstrom and Vargas, receiving nearly 1000 upvotes. While the elections commission found the post to violate campaign guidelines and ordered him to take it down, Prakash is requesting that further sanctions be taken. He claimed that “the guidelines would appear to say that Jared and Celeste are responsible for Gordon posting on Fizz.”
The commission found no evidence that Hammerstrom and Vargas were coordinating with Allen. “I always made sure to separate myself from them,” Allen said to The Daily. “[Hammerstrom and Vargas] cannot control what they do not know, and they cannot control the actions of others if they were not in the know of it initially.”
“This all warrants DQing in our opinion,” Prakash wrote in his complaint. “Impact is in the thousands of impressions.”