USAC Election Board outlines campaign guidelines for spring election
Election board chair Danielle Fitzgerald spoke to all the candidates running for this year’s undergraduate student government elections at an orientation event Wednesday. (Axel Lopez/Daily Bruin)
By April Hoang
April 6, 2017 12:22 a.m.
Student leaders discussed spending limits and social media regulations for spring undergraduate student government elections at a candidate orientation Wednesday night.
The election board chair and directors spoke to this year’s Undergraduate Students Association Council election candidates about upcoming events, rules and due dates. Applicants officially became candidates during the orientation.
[Read more: USAC election introduces new slate, to have one presidential candidate]
There will be 22 people running for the 14 positions on council, with eight contested positions.
The election board outlined campaign guidelines, including spending limits and where signboards will be posted on campus.
The spending limit for candidates this year is $900 for executive officer candidates and those running for presidential and vice presidential positions, and $750 for nonexecutive officer candidates.
Slates, which are groups of candidates who run together on similar platforms, have their own spending limits based on how many people they run. Each slate can spend up to $200 per person. Independent candidates, who run without slate support, can spend an extra $400 per person in addition to their candidate spending limit.
There are two slates, Bruins United and Defend Affirmative Action Party, and 10 independent candidates this year.
Referenda would have been given a spending limit of $900, but there were no referenda submitted this year. Ballot referenda are initiatives that propose to add student fees for various purposes. Last year, four referenda were submitted and passed.
Ballots will be randomized this year, meaning that whenever students refresh the voting page, the order of contested names listed under each position will change. A lottery will determine the order of contested names when posted elsewhere, such as the election board website.
A new hashtag, #USACVoiceYourVote, will replace last year’s #USACMakeItCount. Candidates must use the hashtag and tag the election board in any social media post about the election during online campaigning, which begins April 17. Campus campaigning begins April 24.
The election board will decide on any penalties for candidates or slates violating the rules, and the judicial board will review any appeals of decisions.
Candidates must submit candidate statements outlining their platforms and goals by April 12, after which no revisions can be made. The deadline for candidates to withdraw is April 10.
Voting begins Monday of week five, and results will be announced Friday 5 p.m. the same week.
Student organizations will attend an endorsements hearing, which is optional for candidates, April 17 at 6 p.m. in Carnesale Commons Palisades Room. A meet-the-candidates event will follow immediately at 9 p.m. in the same room. Candidates will debate April 26.
Click here for full coverage of the 2017 USAC elections.
