J-Board nullifies results of two elections

J-Board nullifies results of two elections

Bruin Democrats endorsement ad prompts complaint

By Rashmi Nijagal

Daily Bruin Staff

The undergraduate student government judicial board ruled Friday
afternoon that the election results of the general representative
and student welfare commissioner races were illegitimate.
Re-elections for the offices will be held this Wednesday and
Thursday.

The 4-0-1 ruling came in response to a case filed against the
election board by Marwa Kilani, general representative on this
year’s council, and Matt Weathers, former facilities
commissioner.

Candidates elected last week to these positions were angry and
frustrated at the ruling.

"I was really disappointed and quite upset with the decision
that was made," said Steph Nakano, who was elected last week to the
office of general representative. "I don’t understand how four
undergraduates can completely overturn the decision of 4,952
undergraduates."

Kilani and Weathers initially filed a complaint last Wednesday
with the election board, protesting a Bruin Democrats advertisement
published in the Daily Bruin that endorsed candidates on the
Students First slate.

The complaint stated that because the Bruin Democrats are not
recognized as an official endorsing group by the election board,
they cannot print literature endorsing any candidate.

In order to be recognized as an official endorsing group by the
election board, organizations must participate in the endorsement
process.

But the election board asserts that neither the Bruin Democrats
nor the candidates were in violation of any rules in the election
code. For this reason, the election board assured the candidates
­ before the ad was published ­ that the ad was
permissible.

"According to the election code, there are no guidelines for the
content of media ads and therefore … the ad was not in violation
of the code," said Nikki Vivion, election board chair.

"We agreed that the Bruin Democrats were not an official
endorsing group, which is why they were not included in our
official endorsement ad … nor did we authorize the distribution
of endorsement slips by the Bruin Democrats. But in the endorsement
section of the election code, there is no mention of what a group
can do in placing an endorsement ad," Vivion said.

The candidates knew of the advertisement and included it on
their expense accounts, which Kilani and Weathers said demonstrates
a deliberate attempt to mislead voters.

"The Students First slate knowingly lied to the voting public by
falsely asserting that they were endorsed by the Bruin Democrats,"
Weathers said. "They are not endorsed by the Bruin Democrats
because the Bruin Democrats are not a legitimately recognized
endorsing group."

Although the Bruin Democrats did not go through the endorsement
process, they still had the constitutional right to publish a
separate ad, said Tristen Soutomayor, Bruin Democrats
president.

"I doubt seriously that anyone feels that the Bruin Democrats
skewed the elections," Soutomayor said.

Many strongly disagreed with the judicial board’s decision,
contending that there was no violation of the election code and
that the decision is an infringement on freedom of speech.

"This is an issue of incompetence and inexperience of the
judicial board and of complete disregard for First Amendment
rights, the election code and any semblance of impartiality," said
York Chang, the newly elected undergraduate president, who ran on
the Students First slate.

"We were fully within the election code," Chang said. "They
don’t even have the legal knowledge or experience to make it look
substantive or legitimate. It is a joke."

However, others argued that the unofficial endorsement of groups
renders the endorsement process illegitimate.

"Even though the election code does not state the repercussions
of being an endorsing group that has not gone through the
endorsement process, we all have to play fair," Kilani said. "If we
let any group endorse, then why have a process?"

The judicial board will issue its opinion on this case within
the next 14 days, said Chief Justice Sarah Vesecky.

Both Kilani and Weathers maintain that the ad could have been
influential in the elections. Though the judicial board has not yet
released its opinion, that is likely to be the board’s reasoning in
overturning the narrow student welfare and general representative
elections.

But the race for financial supports commissioner also was close,
with Stanley Yen winning 51.92 percent of the votes over James
Hagar’s 48.08 percent. This race was closer than the student
welfare race, which resulted in a difference of 6.95 percent.
However, the judicial board made no mention of the financial
supports race in their ruling.

"Their decision was a remedy for inappropriate actions," Kilani
said. "It really is drastic. Frankly, I am shocked that this was
their decision, (but) I know a lot of people who go by the Daily
Bruin as their only news source and the Bruin Democrats can get
quite a large variety of people."

But sanctioning candidates and altering election results because
of The Bruin’s advertising is very problematic, said Matea Gold,
editor in chief of The Daily Bruin.

The judicial board’s decision implies that The Bruin’s
advertising could lead to candidate sanctions, undermining the
newspaper’s independence from student government, she said.

"I anticipated this kind of situation would arise since this
became an issue last fall," Gold said. "It’s very easy to
manipulate the ambiguity of the election code language as a
political tool, and I’m very frustrated that The Bruin’s
advertising operations have been dragged into the election
process."

Gold and members of the Communications Board approached council
members several times this year about their concerns that the
election code implied student government authority over Bruin
advertising and endorsing. After the council took no action to
clarify the code, The Bruin published a policy statement addressing
these ambiguities, Gold said.

"The changes that were proposed during fall quarter were not
made because of miscommunication ­ not because they were
purposefully withheld," said Rob Greenhalgh, undergraduate
president. "We did have a meeting and came to a mutual
understanding of our interpretations of the election code. None of
the discussions we had, I believe, are relevant to this case at
all."

The Bruin policy states it is grossly unfair to penalize groups
or candidates for taking out Bruin advertising. "Such sanctions are
likely to impact The Bruin’s finances, and, as a result, interfere
with The Bruin’s ability to provide a forum for the many voices of
the campus," the policy states.