USAC still searching for Election Board chair candidate

The undergraduate student government is still struggling to find a student to run its upcoming spring elections after a candidate backed out of the position last week.

The Undergraduate Students Association Council was supposed to appoint an Election Board chair by the first week of fall quarter, according to USAC bylaws. Last week was the second time this school year that USAC had come close to finding a chair, but was unable to make the appointment.

The chair is responsible for making sure all candidates are eligible to run for office, setting election deadlines and appointing other Election Board members. In some years, Election Board chairs have also proposed reforms to the USAC Election Code.

USAC President John Joanino said he had planned for the most recent candidate to be appointed in week two of winter quarter, but now he is aiming to make the appointment happen by week three.

The latest qualified student interested in the position backed out of the appointment last week after taking on another work commitment, said Joanino, who is responsible for finding a chair candidate.

“The biggest part right now is trying to find someone who is committed (to the job),” Joanino said. “It’s hard to find somebody who has the capacity and knowledge to do it.”

During week 10 of fall quarter, Joanino almost brought Jeronimo Ortega, a fourth-year Asian American studies student, to the council to be considered for appointment.

But concerns about Ortega’s political impartiality surfaced when Internal Vice President Avi Oved told Joanino about a Google group where members of the LET’S ACT! slate had considered Ortega as a candidate for the USAC elections.

Joanino postponed Ortega’s appointment and said he planned to find a new candidate that would be appointed at the beginning of winter quarter.

He added that he is currently talking with a former member of the Election Board about pursuing the position, and that it has been hard to find students who are both qualified and interested in taking on the job.

Some councilmembers and former Election Board chairs have said they think the appointment deadline comes too early in the school year, and that an ideal time for the appointment deadline would be by the end of fall quarter.

Compiled by Amanda Schallert, Bruin senior staff.