ASUC elections 2019

For the second year in a row, Student Action swept the ASUC general elections, winning three out of four partisan executive seats, as announced at Friday’s tabulations ceremony.

Pauley Ballroom erupted in screams, clapping and tears Friday evening as Student Action won the majority of ASUC Senate seats for the second year in a row.

This elections season, there were four presidential candidates, two executive vice president candidates, one external affairs vice president candidate, two academic affairs vice president candidates, one student advocate candidate and 33 ASUC Senate candidates on the ballot.

Independent ASUC presidential candidate Wyatt Colby and Neil McClintick, the transfer director in ASUC President Alexander Wilfert’s office, were both charged with elections violations Tuesday.

Independent ASUC presidential candidate Wyatt Colby released a statement Monday afternoon encouraging UC Berkeley students to vote for the other presidential candidates instead of himself.

The rapidly-approaching end to the 2019 ASUC elections will bring with it an end to campaigning and the challenges that accompany it, including balancing work and navigating the bureaucracy of the ASUC.

UC Berkeley is no stranger to political movements. From free speech to police misconduct protests, the campus climate has become a microcosm of the nation’s rife political environment. This, coupled with the uncertain future for Title IX regulations and the ever-unreliable state funding for UC schools, illustrates the crucial issues at stake in this ASUC election. In the face of all these challenges, the next ASUC elected officials must have a bold vision to lead this campus.

This year's ASUC executive candidates and referendum proponents will debate and explain their campaign platforms at The Daily Californian’s annual ASUC elections forum.

Despite the fact that transfer students currently make up nearly 30 percent of UC Berkeley’s incoming class, not a single transfer student was elected to the ASUC Senate in 2018. Without transfer representation within the ASUC Senate, decisions that impact these community members will be made without their input.

UC Berkeley juniors Aastha Jha, representing Student Action, and Regan Putnam, representing CalSERVE, are going head-to-head for the position of academic affairs vice president, or AAVP, in the 2019 ASUC elections, each with platforms that address diversity and representation, wellness and accessibility to resources.