Selection of USAC Election Board chair halted amid allegations of bias

The undergraduate student government postponed appointing a student to run its spring elections Tuesday after a councilmember raised concerns about the candidate’s political impartiality.

The Undergraduate Students Association Council Election Board chair is tasked with creating a timeline for the spring quarter USAC elections process, appointing other members of the Election Board and screening candidates to ensure they are eligible to run for office.

On Tuesday, the council was scheduled to vote on the appointment of fourth-year Asian American studies student Jeronimo Ortega for the Election Board chair position this academic year.

But at the start of the meeting, John Joanino, USAC president, moved to postpone the appointment until winter quarter, partially because some students had voiced concerns about Ortega’s impartiality.

Joanino also postponed the appointment decision because Ortega was dealing with family issues at the same time, and had asked for the vote to be pushed. As USAC president, Joanino is responsible for finding a qualified candidate for the position.

Before Tuesday’s meeting, Internal Vice President Avi Oved of the Bruins United slate contacted Joanino and said he was concerned about Ortega’s potential appointment because Ortega may have been considered to run as a candidate for the LET’S ACT! slate, with which Joanino is affiliated.

A slate is a group of students that combine their resources and run candidates in the elections. The LET’S ACT! and Bruins United slates ran the most candidates and won the most seats in last year’s elections.

The Election Board is expected to act as an unbiased body, since slate politics play a role in the elections.

“Whether or not allegations of bias are justified, any allegations are taken very seriously,” said Dana Pede, last year’s Election Board chair and a fourth-year applied mathematics student. “It’s important that the Election Board is understood to be an impartial entity.”

Oved said he grew concerned with the appointment after seeing a Google group in which some current and former LET’S ACT! members may have proposed in February that Ortega run for council.

In the Google group, LET’S ACT! members listed potential candidates that the slate planned to run. Ortega’s resume was posted in the group and his name was listed as a potential candidate for multiple council positions.

The Google group was deleted Wednesday, during the course of reporting for this story.

Joanino said he nominated Ortega because he thinks he is a politically neutral candidate who understands UCLA’s campus climate. Ortega is a former On-Campus Housing Council president, a current resident assistant and has held other leadership positions on the Hill.

Both Joanino and Ortega said they were not aware of the Google group brought up by Oved or that Ortega may have been considered as a LET’S ACT! candidate.

Ortega said he has never been affiliated with any USAC slate and has not wanted to be a part of a slate.

“I make independent choices on the things I’m passionate about and the leadership positions I take on,” Ortega said.

Though Joanino thinks any allegations of bias relating to Ortega are unfounded, he said he thinks even perceived bias could be harmful to the Election Board chair position.

“Jeronimo can’t change that someone (may have) thought he would be a good candidate for USAC,” Joanino said.

Joanino said he plans to talk with other councilmembers to address concerns and search for other candidates for the position that all councilmembers will approve for the position.

“It’s important to me that we find someone that the council feels comfortable with,” Joanino said.

Joanino said he hopes to nominate another candidate for the position by the first or second week of winter quarter, though the deadline for the appointment already passed by the first week of fall quarter,according to the USAC bylaws.

Some councilmembers and former USAC Election Board chairs have said the deadline for the appointment comes too early in the quarter, since finding a student qualified to run the USAC elections can be difficult and Election Board chairs do not generally need all of fall quarter to prepare for the elections.

Two years ago, the council appointed Eena Singh – now a UCLA alumna – as Election Board chair in the middle of March. This left her with a short amount of time to organize the elections.

Last year, the council appointed Pede to run its elections in the middle of November. Pede said her appointment in fall quarter gave her enough time to prepare for the elections.

Pede said she thinks the Election Board chair may still have enough time this year if they are appointed during winter quarter, since the new chair will not have to implement as many election code changes as she did last year.

“(This year’s Election Board chair) does not have much work on the front end implementing reform before the election,” Pede said.

Ortega said he still wants to pursue the Election Board position.