USAC approves candidates and referenda for online spring 2020 election ballot
The Undergraduate Students Association Council approved the 2020 election ballot Tuesday with 32 candidates and two referenda. (Daily Bruin file photo)
By Marilyn Chavez-Martinez
April 8, 2020 8:50 p.m.
This post was updated April 9 at 5:08 p.m.
The Undergraduate Students Association Council approved the 2020 election ballot Tuesday, with 32 candidates running for office and two referenda.
The most contested positions this spring are general representative seats, which have nine candidates total vying for three seats. Only one candidate ran for any of the three seats last year.
There are also two candidate slates this election season: For the People and Cost-Cutting Innovations. For the People was the only slate that put forth candidates in the 2019 election and is now backing Academic Affairs Commissioner Naomi Riley for president.
Cost-Cutting Innovations is also backing a presidential candidate – current General Representative 2 Orion Smedley – as well as a general representative, a facilities commissioner, a transfer student representative and an international student representative.
The race for president saw a spike in candidates this year with five total candidates.
Both referenda on the ballot would increase student fees. One, called the Cultivating Unity for Bruin Referendum, would implement a quarterly $15 fee – $9 for a summer session – for all undergraduates to supplement the existing Ackerman Student Union fee. This money would go toward space, programming and resources for historically underrepresented and marginalized groups.
The Associated Students UCLA Board of Directors would manage these funds, giving updates and receiving recommendations from USAC, according to the ballot supplementary language. The Mother Organizations Coalition and the Transfer Leadership Coalition can also give input at council meetings where the funds are discussed.
Four costs the referenda is specifically set to address are ASUCLA programming, the development and maintenance of a Black Resource Center, the creation and upkeep of meditation spaces within ASUCLA and the cost of rent for the Transfer Student Center.
The other, titled the Good Clothes Good People Basic Needs Referendum, would implement a new $0.33 per quarter undergraduate student fee to fund the purchase of school supplies and hygiene products, which would be distributed by the Good Clothes Good People redistribution center.
Good Clothes Good People is a USAC-housed project which offers undergraduates clothing, school supplies, menstrual hygiene products and other basic needs items at no cost.
The 2020 election is set to proceed despite UCLA’s shift to online instruction for the spring quarter and will transition to virtual means as well. The 2020 USAC Candidate Debate will be held in cooperation with the Daily Bruin virtually April 30 from 7-9 p.m.
Voting is set to begin on May 4 and run until May 8 midday. The full list of candidates is below.
President
- Aniq Chunara (Independent)
- Josh Feldman (Independent)
- Josuel Vasquez (Independent)
- Naomi Riley (For the People)
- Orion Smedley (Cost-Cutting Innovations)
Internal Vice President
- Brandon Broukhim (Independent)
- Emily Hong Van Luong (For the People)
External Vice President
- Aidan Arasasingham (Independent)
- Carl Illustrisimo (For the People)
General Representatives (There are three available spots)
- Andrea Robinson (Independent)
- Atharva Kulkarni (Independent)
- Clare Glavin (Independent)
- Elijah Wade (For the People)
- Jong Hyeon Lee (Cost-Cutting Innovations)
- Justin Rodriguez (For the People)
- Sam Haddad (Independent)
- Sophia Su (Independent)
- Viktor Chanchykov (Independent)
Academic Affairs Commissioner
- Breeze Velazquez (For the People)
Campus Events Commissioner
- Alice Naland (Independent)
Community Service Commissioner
- Jonathan Wisner (Independent)
Cultural Affairs Commissioner
- Promise Ogunleye (For the People)
Facilities Commissioner
- Draco Tong (Cost-Cutting Innovations)
- Sachi Cooper (For the People)
Financial Supports Commissioner
- Noe Garcia (Independent)
Student Wellness Commissioner
- Christina Read (Independent)
Transfer Student Representative
- Deven Streeton (Cost-Cutting Innovations)
- Nawa Arghandiwal (Independent)
- Zuleika Bravo (For the People)
International Student Representative
- Bakur Madini (Cost-Cutting Innovations)
- Nadine Xerxes Avari (Independent)
- Nox Yang (Independent)
