With a 10-0-1 vote, undergraduate student government officers approved language at their Tuesday meeting for a constitutional amendment that would clarify how officer vacancies are filled, extend the timeline for council to hold special elections and prevent special elections from taking place during school breaks.
Undergraduate students will vote on the amendment during the upcoming special election. Two-thirds of voting students must vote in favor of the amendment for it to pass.
Undergraduate Students Association Council Internal Vice President Avinoam Baral said the council moved to amend its constitution early this fall after events including the resignation of former General Representative 2 Nihal Satyadev and the creation of a new transfer representative position, which exposed logistical problems in USAC’s official procedures for filling vacancies.
If the amendment passes, USAC would have 28 days to hold a special election to fill a position that is left vacant before the midpoint of an officer’s term. If a position becomes vacant after the midpoint of a term, USAC would appoint a new officer itself, as the constitution already dictates.
The amendment clarifies that the creation of a new council position would qualify as a vacancy and would need to be filled through a special election within 28 days.
The amendment would also bar any special elections from taking place during summer or winter breaks.
Instead of electing a new officer immediately, USAC may appoint an interim officer with a majority vote from councilmembers under the amendment.
In some cases, the interim officer would help keep offices and commissions running to ensure that certain events and responsibilities, such as Bruin Bash or significant appointments, take place as scheduled.
The current constitutional language says special elections to fill open seats on council must be held within 15 days of the reported vacancy. However, Baral said organizing a special election in that span of time is almost impossible because of logistical reasons.
When Satyadev resigned in June, councilmembers chose to push back a special election for his position until fall to ensure that more of the student body was on campus and involved at the time of the vote, among other reasons.
“The constitution wasn’t in line with the correct action in this case, but I still feel uncomfortable with the council deliberately acting against what the constitution says,” Baral said. “We are dealing with the issues of special elections and vacancies now so that future councils have a standard and constitutionally correct way of dealing with these situations.”
The amendment would also set a more comprehensive process to follow if there is a vacancy in the position of president.
The special election will run from Oct. 21 to 23. Students will vote to fill the new transfer representative seat and the General Representative 2 seat vacated by Satyadev.
Compiled by Joseph Vescera, Bruin contributor.