Election board further sanctions Social Justice Referendum
By Nicholas Yu
May 3, 2016 2:00 a.m.
The undergraduate student government election board further sanctioned the Social Justice Referendum for exceeding the $750 spending cap and failing to disclose the source of a portion of the campaign’s funding, according to an election board investigation report published Monday night.
The sanction, imposed after referendum representatives allegedly violated sanctions announced Sunday night, prohibits supporters of the Social Justice Referendum from campaigning on campus from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday. A representative of the referendum must also arrange a meeting with election board by 4 p.m. Wednesday to discuss and remedy the election violations, according to the investigation document.
The Social Justice Referendum aims to fund a variety of student-run retention and outreach programs on campus, and would increase student fees by $24.99 per quarter. The referendum is one of four ballot proposals in this year’s spring USAC election.
The referendum campaign was initially sanctioned Sunday night for exceeding the spending cap of $750 for referenda and failing to disclose about $3,400 of its $7,400 in campaign expenses. In the Sunday sanction, supporters of the Social Justice Referendum were barred from campaigning until 2 p.m. Monday.
The initial sanction also required a representative of the referendum to come into the election board office before 10 a.m. Monday to revise an expense report that did not exceed $750. It required all campaign material bought in excess of the $750 cap to be returned to the election board office by 10 a.m. Tuesday.
Election Board Chair Lindsay Allen said she reached out to Jazz Kiang, designated campaign representative for the Social Justice Referendum, on Monday, after referendum representatives did not come into the office and revise the expense report.
“This is the third attempt to rectify the situation,” Allen said. “Kiang has yet to answer why the referendum overspent by 880 percent of the spending cap.”
Allen said she first approached Kiang on April 29, a day after expense reports were due, to inform him of the election code violations. She added she said she made it clear the election board would take action against the referendum during a second meeting Sunday at 2 p.m.
Kiang did not respond immediately to requests for comment.
