Before Bruin Walk is adorned by undergraduate student government
posters inviting students to vote for the right candidate, slates
and independents alike have started to indirectly campaign for
their cause.
Independent general representative candidate Michi Kono, better
known as “Moochfish” on the MyUCLA forums, has already
started informing the forum community through his posts and links
directing students to his Web site.
The site does not state his name and is therefore abiding by the
elections board bylaws.
It is for people who have prior knowledge of him, Kono said.
Kono said the nature of his Web site is similar to fliers passed
out by slates where the names are not listed, but anyone with any
prior knowledge knows who is being talked about.
Kono does not see his Web site as using a loophole, and
emphasized that only outsiders know who the candidate is.
“One of the big reasons people use slates is to avoid
election rules,” Kono said, explaining that slates passing
out fliers is disadvantageous to those not running under a
slate.
The Equal Access Coalition has already passed out fliers stating
their platform and the date of the elections.
Regarding fliers, Kono said he plans to wait until the actual
fliering date.
Campaigning will officially start on Thursday.
The election board cannot regulate the MyUCLA forums since it is
an issue of free speech, said Roy Samaan, chairman of the election
board.
He explained that it is not considered campaigning if candidates
are not asking others to vote for them directly and are addressing
issues rather than directly campaigning.
The election board does not actively police people and does not
take action unless there is a complaint filed, Samaan added.
There is no set punishment, and the consequences of campaigning
against regulations vary based on the severity of the violation and
the verification of the violation, Samaan said regarding a
potential violation by a candidate.
Another candidate present on the MyUCLA forums is independent
presidential-hopeful Doug Ludlow.
A supporter of Ludlow’s started posting under
“votedoug” to start communication and put some of the
issues out in the open, Ludlow said.
Ludlow said that ideally the forums could serve as a way for
students to communicate one-on-one with the candidates.
He explained that a direct method of communication would be more
effective than receiving a flier on Bruin Walk.
“In reality, there are a few people slinging mud,”
he added.
He said “it’s easy to throw stones when anonymity is
assured” and that this trend has prompted him to avoid the
forums for the remainder of the election process.
Ludlow has not posted on the forums since April 28.
In regard to his Web site, Ludlow said that his new official Web
site does not violate the rules and is a “passive way to get
ideas out there.”
Ludlow said his intention was not to bend the rules, but to use
them in the best way possible.