Maxwell Heroux will be the next president of the Carleton University Students’ Association, ending an election marked by single-digit voter turnout and a slew of recently overturned campaign violations findings.
Basit Ur Rehman, the student association’s chief returning officer, announced the results Friday afternoon at the CUSA-owned Ollie’s Pub and Patio.
“It has been a great election year,” Heroux, also a CUSA councillor, said in his brief speech to the crowd.
“I cannot wait to get started on the many reforms and many changes that the students have voted me in to accomplish.”
In an interview, Heroux said his first priority as president would be making “easy fixes” to the CUSA clubs system and streamlining CUSA processes.
“I have made as close of a dent to that as I can this year from council, but it will be good to finally enact that,” the fourth-year political science student said.
Heroux said whether students voted for him or not, he is happy to have been voted in to fulfill the promises made in his campaign platform.
He said he is most looking forward to “being the change that [he] wanted to see this past year.”
In a February interview, Heroux said that as CUSA president, he would:
- Prioritize ensuring transparency in the student union;
- Reform the CUSA clubs system to streamline funding, deadlines and other internal systems;
- Conducting a “top-to-bottom” financial review of CUSA businesses;
- Introduce more volunteer and honorarium-based roles for students.
Heroux received 959 out of 2,165 votes in the first round of balloting. Singh received 805 votes, and 401 students voted to re-open nominations.
After redistribution in the second round of balloting, Heroux received 1,008 votes, and Singh received 843 votes.
Voter turnout in the election was 9.4 per cent, a fall from last year’s voter turnout which was 20.6 per cent.
In the 2024-2025 CUSA election, voter turnout was 19.8 per cent.
Heroux, who previously worked at Ollie’s, said he decided to run for the top student association job after becoming further involved in CUSA and recognizing issues he believes he can fix.
Heroux has criticized Carleton’s handling of pro-Palestinian protests on campus, saying they are overpoliced compared to other demonstrations. He is also a member of CUSA’s divestment subcommittee and said he intends to continue pressuring the university to divest from companies with ties to Israel.
His other campaign points included a firm stance against Carleton’s institutional impartiality policy and a call to ensure AI is used appropriately at the university, saying AI is in “no position” to produce course material or make judgement or marking decisions.
Friday’s election results event came as a surprise, as CUSA’s appeals committee overturned multiple potential disqualifications for both candidates shortly before results were set to come out.
Read more of the Charlatan’s CUSA’s presidential race coverage:
- BREAKING: Both CUSA presidential candidates’ disqualifications overturned, election results to be announced Friday
- Q&A: CUSA presidential candidate Aryan Singh on finances, supporting students and advocacy
- CUSA presidential candidates talk club finances, artificial intelligence
- Podcast: 2026 CUSA Presidential Debate: A Recap
Heroux had nine demerit points from a previous total of 58. Singh had four demerit points, down from a previous total of 41. Those changes mean neither candidate met the student association’s disqualification threshold of 10 demerit points.
“The Appeals Committee was completely fair and justified in overturning every complaint that it did,” Heroux previously said in a statement.
“I am glad that both of us were able to overturn these false and vexatious complaints enough to be back in the race so it can be what it was always meant to be, a fair and free election,” Heroux added.
He said he learned a lot over the course of the presidential race and “became a better person in many aspects.”
Singh added he “tried his absolute best” and has no regrets about what he called a tough competition from the start, saying he intends to keep contributing to the Carleton community.
Singh previously stated he “had full faith in the electoral process and trusted that the appeals committee would review the matter carefully and impartially,” adding he respected the appeals committee’s decision.
Featured image by Simon McKeown/the Charlatan
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