USAC appoints Election Board chair right before election season in spring quarter

The undergraduate student government appointed an Election Board chair Tuesday night, cutting it close to the start of election season.

Eena Singh, a third-year anthropology student, was appointed to the position with a vote of 10-1-1, months after the Undergraduate Students Association Council bylaws call for her appointment.

The Election Board chair must be appointed by the first week of fall quarter, according to the bylaws.

“This is the latest (E-Board chair appointment) I can recall,” said Berky Nelson, an administrative representative for USAC who has been on the council for more than 10 years.

Singh now has a limited amount of time to prepare for the upcoming USAC elections, which will be held midway through spring quarter.

The Election Board chair’s responsibilities include appointing the rest of the board, verifying the eligibility of USAC candidates and presenting an election time line to the current council for approval.

“I do realize that we are a little bit behind,” Singh said. “But, I will ensure we are on time for everything.”

It is not entirely unusual for the chair to be appointed later in the year, said Kris Kaupalolo, Election Board adviser.

“The process has been difficult because this is a position that requires extreme impartiality and intense knowledge of the E-Board and USAC,” said Emily Resnick, USAC president.

Throughout the appointment process, Singh’s impartiality has been called into question by other members of USAC. Jason Smith, a USAC general representative and a member of the Students First! slate, said the fact that Singh worked in Academic Affairs Commissioner Raquel Saxe’s office was one reason he voted against her appointment.

He was the only one to vote against her.

“When you have a chairperson that could be leaning towards one party or slate, then you get a lot of issues and it’s not fair,” Smith said. “For me, it’s a question of fairness.”

Saxe abstained from the vote Tuesday because of Singh’s former involvement with her office, and Singh stepped down from her position in the office Tuesday night before being appointed as Election Board chair.

“I do understand that by remaining in a USAC office, my neutrality could (have) come into question,” Singh said.

Smith said he was also uncomfortable approving the appointment without a recommendation from the USAC Appointments Review Committee.

The committee, which consists of three USAC voting members and the nonvoting finance committee chair, interviews the applicants recommended by the USAC president’s office before forwarding their recommendation to the rest of the council.

This year, the committee only interviewed two students for the position of Election Board chair. Six students applied for the Election Board and about four or five indicated chair as their first choice, Resnick said.

Students can begin applying for the next year’s Election Board at the end of every school year. The USAC president and his or her executive staff review each application and then forward any they deem qualified to the committee, Resnick said.

Without a recommendation from the committee, applicants have the option to withdraw their applications or go before council for a vote, according to USAC bylaws. A week ago, the committee chose not to recommend the other candidate for Election Board chair. The candidate chose to withdraw her application before the USAC meeting on Feb. 28.

Singh also failed to receive a majority vote from the committee, with one positive vote and two abstentions.

Unlike the previous candidate for Election Board chair, Singh elected to go to the USAC meeting Tuesday night to be interviewed by the council for the position.

“From the answers I heard from (Singh) last night, I’m convinced she will be able to do the job,” Nelson said.

With contributing reports from Melissa Truong, Bruin contributor.