USAC votes to extend voting period until Friday, May 9
By Daily Bruin
April 29, 2014 9:19 p.m.
The undergraduate student government voted at its meeting Tuesday night to extend the voting period for next week’s elections to run until Friday afternoon.
Polls will now open Tuesday at 9 a.m. and close Friday, May 9 at noon, keeping voting open on MyUCLA for 75 continuous hours.
After a heated debate between some Undergraduate Students Association Council members and the Election Board, the council approved the new election calendar with a 6-4-1 vote on the condition that the board allow students to flier on campus on Monday.
Councilmembers said fliering would ensure that students would be able to educate themselves about the different campaigns before voting on Tuesday morning. USAC Election Board Chair Anthony Padilla said he was disappointed in councilmembers’ request because he thinks it will make the elections less sustainable.
Earlier this week, the USAC Judicial Board ordered the Election Board to change the calendar and extend its voting period after finding that it violated the elections code by not running for a full 72 hours. The previous voting period lasted from 9 a.m. Tuesday to 5 p.m. Thursday, but the USAC Election Code states that polls must be open at least “three full days.”
The extension of voting hours was ordered after former Election Board member Ian Cocroft filed a petition against the current Election Board.
Compiled by Amanda Schallert, Bruin senior staff.
