By Scott B. Wong
Daily Bruin Reporter
A special election to fill the vacant seat of external vice
president of the Undergraduate Students Association Council kicks
off today with candidate endorsement hearings.
Council members approved the emergency online election calendar
and budget proposed by the Election Board at Tuesday’s USAC
meeting.
The online election, set for Thursday and Friday, is the first
such election at UCLA. It was the only option due to a lack of
resources and time constraints, council members said.
USAC bylaws state a special election must be held within 15
school days of a declared vacancy, which comes up this Friday.
“I really don’t see any alternatives and I
haven’t heard anyone put forth an idea of how this would
otherwise be funded,” said Lyle Timmerman, administrative
representative for USAC.
The council seat was deemed vacant after former external vice
president Portia Pedro was declared ineligible on Nov. 8 for
failing to meet USAC eligibility requirements.
In order to hold office, members must be a registered UCLA
student, enrolled in at least four units a quarter and maintain a
minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.0.
Pedro said since her removal, she’s become eligible for
office.
According to the calendar, online voting will occur during the
24-hour period from noon Thursday to noon Friday.
E-Board adviser Mike Cohn said the hours of the election are in
accordance with election bylaws.
“The Election Code states that a special election can only
be held for one day,” Cohn said. “Where this gets
creative is that one day means 24 hours.”
To eliminate duplicate voting, every time a student logs onto
the “my.ucla” Web page with their student ID number, it
is cross-referenced with numbers of students who have already
voted, said Alex Kaplan, chair of E-Board.
“Results will be known two to three hours after votes are
cast as long as every thing is verified and cross-checked,”
Kaplan said.
He said the online election will only cost about $150, compared
with $10,000 for a traditional election.
During Tuesday’s meeting, Facilities Commissioner Steve
Davey motioned to bring the election calendar and expense account
to the table for approval, but other council members expressed
concern over difficulties of voter regulation.
“The concern of online voting is warranted ““ the
idea that fraternities and sororities will line up in droves and
vote in a block,” said Jared Seltzer, campus events
commissioner.
Cohn said jokingly that the Florida Supreme Court might have to
look into the matter.
The calendar passed by a majority with Internal Vice President
Elias Enciso and Financial Supports Commissioner Cynthia Rabuy
voting against the proposal.
The approved candidate expense account says no one may incur
campaign expenses of more than $400 and an additional $150 for the
signboard.