Candidates in USAC election disqualified
By Melinda Dudley
May 8, 2006 9:00 p.m.
Six candidates in the Undergraduate Students Association Council
election were disqualified Monday after they failed to turn in
their mandatory campaign expense reports.
Jason Mizzell, Elections Board investigations chairman, said the
disqualified candidates were internal vice president candidate
Sheretta Thomas; general representative candidates Steve Sandoval
and Elias Dabaie; Academic Affairs commissioner candidate Jennifer
McGee; Campus Events commissioner candidate Eric Alvarez; and
Community Service commissioner candidate Matthew de Lira. None of
these candidates could be reached Monday evening for comment.
The candidates’ departure has halved the number of
independent candidates and leaves the position of Community Service
commissioner uncontested. Farheen Malik, an incumbent who is
running for re-election as an independent, is the sole remaining
candidate.
Voting in USAC elections begins tonight at 7 via MyUCLA.
Primary candidate expense reports were due Monday at 10 a.m. and
required candidates to turn in copies of all campaign materials,
original receipts for purchases and an itemized list of all
campaign expenses, as well as a report of any donated materials,
according to the Undergraduate Students Association Elections
Code.
Candidates sharing expenses with members of a slate must report
the total of shared expenses, as well as itemize their share.
The Elections Code also states that failure to submit a campaign
expense account is grounds for disqualification from participating
in USAC elections.
“It’s really sad, because I’d like to see
everyone be part of the process,” said Troy Isaac, a
third-year political science student running for president as an
independent.
Due to Thomas’ disqualification, the position of external
vice president will not go to a runoff election, as only two
candidates remain.
Students First! external vice president candidate Tina Park, a
third-year political science student, said this will not affect her
campaigning, as she campaigns on behalf of her entire slate and
will continue to do so until runoffs end May 18.
The E-Board has also sanctioned all eight members of the
Students First! slate for publishing their slate’s Web site
on the Internet prior to official notification of the board.
The Students First! candidates will be sanctioned from
campaigning from 4:45 p.m. to 5 p.m. today, the first day
candidates can distribute literature, during which time they cannot
campaign or distribute fliers.
The E-Board also received a complaint that Thomas McKenna, a
second-year aerospace engineering student running for Facilities
commissioner with Slate Refund, was advertising his candidacy for a
different position, Campus Events commissioner, on his Bruin Walk
signboard.
While the board found that this is not a punishable violation,
it expects McKenna to correct the mistake on his sign board by 10
a.m. today.
