The ASUC Judicial Council has rejected petitions filed against several candidates for sending unsolicited campaign emails, while separate charges against External Affairs Vice President-elect Safeena Mecklai for campaigning in the residence halls are still pending.
The charges were dropped because most of the candidates in question lost their bids for office, so any censures against them would have no effect, according to ASUC Attorney General Hinh Tran.
Petitions were filed last week against the entire Student Action executive slate — presidential candidate Rafi Lurie, executive vice presidential candidate Chen-Chen Huo, academic affairs vice presidential candidate Ryan Kang and Mecklai — for sending unsolicited emails. A petition was also filed against CalSERVE senate candidate Taylor Fugere alleging the same charges.
“According to the Council, censures for losing candidates are not an effective remedy for the violations alleged in my petition,” Tran said in an email. “Although Safeena did win, my office had filed suit against the entire Executive Slate in a single petition, and apparently the Council rejected the petition in its entirety.”
The Judicial Council will assess a separate charge against Mecklai for campaigning in the residence halls at a trial scheduled for May 2 in Unit 1’s Slottman Hall at 8 p.m.
The other candidates were charged with violating Section 12.5 of the election bylaws, which prohibits candidates from sending unsolicited emails.
Had the candidates been found in violation of this section, each would have received one censure. In order to be disqualified from the election, they would need to receive a total of five censures.
According to Student Action party chair Joey Lam, the email in question was sent due to a miscommunication. He said that the executive candidates met other people with the same name and accidentally sent it to the student who made the complaint.
Fugere cited a similar reason, saying one of her staff members accidentally sent the email to the wrong listserv.
Andrea Guzman covers academics and administration. Contact her at [email protected] and on Twitter @guzmanandrea5.