No candidates will be contested in this year’s graduate student government election.
Michael Skiles, the current president of the Graduate Students Association, is among the four uncontested candidates, the GSA Election Board announced Tuesday. All candidates are running with the Moving Forward Slate, which was formed in spring 2014.
Three of the four candidates already hold positions in GSA and one candidate has no experience in graduate student government.
Alexander Fung, GSA’s director of communications and a graduate student in public policy, is running for vice president of internal affairs. Parshan Khosravi, GSA’s director of discretionary funding and a graduate student in public policy, is running for vice president of external affairs. Rebecca Katz, a graduate student at the Anderson School of Management, is running for vice president of academic affairs.
Last year, three positions were contested, up from one contested position in 2015. Voter turnout in 2016 was also higher at 12.6 percent versus 8.2 percent in 2015.
To become candidates, graduate students must receive 50 student signatures of approval from the graduate student body. Each position only received one applicant, Skiles said.
Uncontested candidates automatically get positions as long as at least one person votes for them, Skiles said.
Graduate students can vote for each candidate between April 11 and 18 on MyUCLA. A Grad Bar event will be held April 12, said Anne Blackstock-Bernstein, GSA elections commissioner.