USAC misses deadline to appoint Election Board chair

For at least the third year in a row, the undergraduate student government has missed the deadline to appoint a student to run its spring elections.

The Undergraduate Students Association Council bylaws call for the council to appoint an Election Board chair before the first week of fall quarter – a deadline that some previous Election Board chairs and current USAC members say comes unnecessarily early in the school year.

So far, nobody has applied for the position, though one student has expressed interest in applying, USAC President John Joanino said.

The USAC president appoints the Election Board chair, who is in charge of running USAC’s elections in spring quarter.

The chair must set election deadlines, appoint other members of the Election Board, and verify that all candidates are eligible to run for office.

Joanino said he plans to appoint an Election Board chair before the end of fall quarter. He said he thinks this will give the chair enough time to organize and plan for the spring elections.

When asked if he tried to meet the deadline set by the bylaws, Joanino said that he was busy making other appointments and starting up USAC campaigns over the summer.

USAC has reached out to academic departments and student groups multiple times to find applicants. Joanino added that no members of last year’s Election Board have expressed interest in the position.

Joanino said he plans to propose changing the deadline to appoint a chair because it is difficult for the council to find a student to run elections before the school year starts.

“It’s been one of the hardest appointments to fill because you need to find a person who is neutral and understands the time commitment,” he said.

Last year’s council appointed Dana Pede, now a fourth-year applied mathematics student, as Election Board chair in mid-November, about seven weeks after the deadline for appointing an Election Board chair.

Pede said she thinks her appointment in fall quarter gave her enough time to prepare for the elections. Organizing the elections was still overwhelming, she said, but the timing of her appointment allowed her to choose members for the board before the end of fall quarter.

Pede also added that finding the right student to run the elections before the first week of the quarter can be difficult.

“It is absolutely crucial that the council chooses who they believe to be the right person for the job instead of rushing to make the decision,” Pede said.

Two years ago, the council waited until the middle of March to appoint Eena Singh, now a UCLA alumna, as Election Board chair. Because USAC appointed her late in the school year, Singh said she had to rush to organize the elections.

Singh said she thinks Election Board chairs need to be appointed in fall quarter if councilmembers want them to act on the suggestions they make, such as working to randomize candidate order on ballots.

Students who want to be the next Election Board chair can still submit their applications to USAC.