USAC special election to be held in week three of fall quarter
By Daily Bruin
Sept. 24, 2014 2:19 a.m.
The original version of this article contained an error and has been changed. See the bottom of the article for more information.
The undergraduate student government voted 9-1-0 Tuesday to approve a calendar for its special fall election, which will have a voting period from Tuesday to Thursday of week 3.
With the new calendar, students can vote from Tuesday, Oct. 21 at noon until Thursday, Oct. 23 at 11:59 p.m. The Undergraduate Students Association Council Election Board will announce the election results on the afternoon of Friday, Oct. 24, said Board Chair Shagun Kabra.
The election will be held for two positions: A newly established transfer representative seat and the general representative 2 seat after former councilmember Nihal Satayadev resigned in June for personal reasons.
USAC officers and Election Board members discussed the possibility of starting voting on Monday, but councilmembers chose not to amid a concern that some student groups might block vote.
Although Kabra said he acknowledges block voting can occur any time, he said he thinks most student groups that might do so meet on Mondays.
In past elections, voting has typically lasted from Monday morning to Thursday evening, but last year’s Election Board revised the voting period in February to exclude Monday to give students time to reflect on the candidates and their platforms. However, many USAC officers and others speculated the move was done to prevent block voting.
On Tuesday, the Election Board stressed that they want to avoid controversy that arose last year with voting periods by maintaining last year’s calendar and ensuring this election’s voting period will last for the 48 hours required for a special election. The length of voting periods became a controversial issue during USAC’s last spring election as its judicial board found that the voting period was too short and had to be extended.
Although USAC extended the voting period in the most recent election to include Friday, councilmembers said having a Friday voting period this time was out of the question.
“The extra voting day on Friday (last May) was a complete waste,” said Internal Vice President Avinoam Baral, saying he didn’t think the extra voting day improved voter turnout. “I had to miss a day of class for no reason.”
Baral said he wanted voting to occur on Monday for this fall election, since it might lead to higher voter turnout. However, USAC President Devin Murphy said it wasn’t clear that excluding Monday from the voting period in past elections led to a lower voter turnout.
On Tuesday, councilmembers also agreed to call for the Election Board to push the election back from week 2, when it was originally planned. They said they were worried candidates would not have time to educate themselves about campus issues. They also pushed it back to avoid the election conflicting with voter registration week for the midterm election in early November.
The election’s candidate debate will move to Oct. 18 and campus campaigning will begin on Oct. 19 at midnight. Candidates must submit their paperwork to the Election Board by Oct. 7.
Compiled by Jeong Park, Bruin senior staff.
Correction: Candidate paperwork is due by Oct. 7.
