Majority of USAC special election candidates campaigning as pairs

The majority of the independent candidates in this week’s undergraduate student government election are combining resources and campaigning as two-person teams in the absence of official slate participation.

Of the five candidates running in the Undergraduate Students Association Council special election, only one transfer student representative candidate does not have a partnership with another student.

Transfer student representative candidate Michelle Balatbat and general representative 2 candidate Youmun Alhlou, and transfer student representative candidate Negeen Sadeghi-Movahed and general representative 2 candidate Sofia Moreno Haq are campaigning together. Transfer student representative candidate Allan Kew is running alone.

Slates are groups of students who combine campaign resources and connections to run candidates with similar platforms.

The candidates in each joint campaign have similar sign boards on Bruin Walk, and campaign photos and artwork inviting students to vote for both candidates.

Balatbat said she met Alhlou when they both worked in the Internal Vice President’s office last year. She added that they decided to run for the positions together soon after they decided to seek office about a month ago.

“I wanted to run, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do it alone,” Balatbat said. “When Youmun and I decided to run, we both thought it would be a great idea to combine our resources and run together.”

Sadeghi-Movahed said she and Haq decided to run together after the endorsements hearing made it clear that they shared similar experiences and the same progressive values.

“As both Muslim women and transfer students, we have many of the same goals and perspectives on what USAC is and what it should be,” Sadeghi-Movahed said.

Although the joint campaigns serve a similar purpose to slates, Balatbat said she does not consider her partnership with Alhlou to be a slate because it lacks the fundraising power, leadership hierarchy and defined student group support typical of slates. Alhlou said she also still considers herself an independent candidate because she and Balatbat are not connected to a larger organization that has a history with USAC or student groups.

In typical elections, some candidates donate money to their slate, which is then used for campaign materials. But Balatbat added that she and Alhlou paid for their own individual campaign materials directly out of their own pockets.

Sadeghi-Movahed said she thinks she is still an independent candidate because she and Haq are campaigning and preparing for the elections themselves, without the help of an entire slate staff. Sadeghi-Movahed ran for the USAC internal vice president seat in spring with the LET’S ACT! slate, but said that she has since left the slate.

Transfer student representative candidate Allan Kew, who is not participating in a joint campaign, said he thinks the candidate teams are de facto slates and that it is now hard for him to consider the other candidates true independents.

Kew said he thinks he is at a disadvantage because he is not able to pool resources with or benefit from the affiliations of other candidates, which could keep him from reaching as many students.

Students can vote on MyUCLA until 11:59 p.m. on Thursday. Election results will be announced tentatively at 12:30 p.m. Friday at Meyerhoff Park in front of Kerckhoff Hall.