University of Alabama homecoming queen candidates are expected to be announced Friday following an unexpected delay.

According to reporting by The Crimson White, the five names were supposed to be announced on Sept. 27, but the process was reopened after only four candidates were produced.

“The preliminary phase of the new selection process (applications, essays and interviews) only produced four candidates because we had a candidate withdraw once the process had begun,” Rosalind Moore-Miller, assistant vice president of student engagement and the chairwoman of the Homecoming Steering and Advisory Committee, told the student paper. “We communicated to the four qualified candidates that we were reopening the [candidate selection] process to identify a fifth qualified candidate, in keeping with the Task Force’s new selection process.”

This year marks the first homecoming court election cycle under new rules following the controversial election of McLean Moore as the 2021 homecoming queen.

Several stories in the Crimson White alleged irregularities in the conduct of the election after Moore defeated star softball player Montana Fouts, a psychology major and athlete who pitched a perfect game in the Women’s College World Series.

The student paper reported at the time that the elections board did not adhere to a requirement to post the homecoming election timeline at least 21 class days ahead of the election. The rule states that failure to meet that timeline invalidates results.

The University of Alabama Student Elections Board issued a report on the controversial homecoming queen election, refuting allegations that the Oct. 22 election was not valid.

The SGA did, however, remove itself from administering the election after the controversy and the role will now fall to the Elections Review and Dispute Panel.

An in-depth look at the new rules and process for homecoming elections can be found here.