Student organizations are coming forward about misrepresentation in their student endorsements in this year’s undergraduate student government elections.
Representatives from two student groups, UCLA Circle K and Moneythink UCLA, have filed complaints with the Undergraduate Students Association Council Election Board about inaccurate endorsements of the Bruins United slate.
The groups are listed as supporters of Bruins United by signboards on campus and on the election ballot on MyUCLA. They were also listed as supporters of Bruins United in an advertisement that ran in the Daily Bruin on Monday and Tuesday. The advertisement was paid for by the USAC Election Board, which also handles and processes endorsements.
Alex Pham, president of UCLA Circle K, told the Daily Bruin on Wednesday his group did not attend the student group endorsement hearings on May 2. The hearings are mandatory for groups who wish to endorse candidates.
At the meeting, representatives from each endorsing student group had to sign a formal sheet before having their endorsements approved by the Election Board. Paperwork was signed and submitted on behalf of the student groups at the mandatory meeting, said Eena Singh, chair of the Election Board and a third-year anthropology student.
Both groups say in their complaints, however, that the signers of the endorsement sheet were not members of their organizations and were not authorized to endorse candidates.
The election board is currently investigating these complaints, Singh said.
On Monday, a representative from Theta Xi fraternity said their endorsement in the Daily Bruin advertisement was inaccurate ““ the fraternity was listed as endorsing Bruins United candidate Sahil Seth instead of independent candidate Taylor Bazley, who is a member of Theta Xi. The fraternity representative and members of Bruin United later characterized the incident as a miscommunication.
Compiled by James Barragan, Bruin senior staff.