All undergraduate student government candidates received blanket sanctions for negative advertising on Facebook and were suspended from campaigning on Bruin Walk for one hour Tuesday afternoon.
“No one took responsibility for the negative ads, so we sanctioned all candidates to see if it would stop,” said Sandybeth Carillo, Elections Board chairwoman and a former Daily Bruin reporter.
But Tina Park, current Undergraduate Students Association Council external vice president and campaign manager for Students First!, said she believes the sanctions were unfair because Students First! did not officially sponsor the ads.
“Facebook is hard to regulate, and the sanction occurred during a peak campaign hour, which hurt all candidates,” Park said.
Marwa Kaisey, current USAC president and a member of Bruins United, said her slate never disobeyed the Elections Code and did not sponsor the negative ads.
“It’s very difficult to keep track of what our (supporters) do, and I think this was a matter of miscommunication,” Kaisey said.
Several other candidates have received sanctions from the Elections Board for violations such as illegally advertising on Facebook and submitting inaccurate expense accounts.
As of May 9, 13 sanctions had been issued, with most affecting the two major slates.
Sanctions occur when people submit a formal complaint in writing of a possible violation of the Elections Code. From there, the Elections Board decides whether it constitutes a violation, Carillo said.
“We need to see tangible evidence before we issue the sanctions,” she added.
Besides the blanket sanction, the infractions that have occurred so far have been mostly minor, primarily consisting of candidates campaigning before the elections had officially started. The sanctions for those infractions are an enforced 15-minute stop in campaigning, Carillo said.
The other major infraction, which forced Bruins United to cease campaigning for 30 minutes, was an ad posted on Facebook by Kaisey. Kaisey’s ad, which asked for a stop to negative campaigning, linked to the Bruins United campaign Web site but was not included in the Bruins United campaign budget, as the Elections Code requires.
Gregory Cendana, Students First! presidential candidate and the current USAC internal vice president, said his slate engaged supporters in conversations despite the sanctions, since the regulations forbid fliering but do not prevent candidates from campaigning in other ways.
“Even if we can’t pass out fliers, our supporters can have conversations with us that leave them with a lasting memory of Students First!,” Cendana said.
Gabe Rose, Bruins United presidential candidate and third-year political science and communication studies student, said he was aware of the sanctions on his slate and would do everything possible to follow the rules.
“We always do our best to avoid (sanctions),” Rose said.
Park said her slate is always prepared for sanctions.
“The Elections Board has their way of looking at elections, and we do our best to stay within the rules and spirit of positive campaigning,” Park said.
She added that it was especially important to avoid negative campaigning against independent candidates, because she believes they lack the solid base of the two major slates.
But not all candidates said they were concerned about the effect of sanctions. Independent presidential candidate Dave Valk, a second-year political science and sociology student, said he was not worried about his sanction, which was for promoting a Facebook group before election campaigning had started.
“I had to get ready to host my pool party on Bruin Walk, so I didn’t mind getting sanctioned,” Valk said, adding that he would probably be asleep during the early-morning sanction period anyway.
Carillo said the Elections Board was trying not to be harsh with their sanctions because of the short amount of time candidates have to campaign this year.
“It used to be six days and now it’s only four days, so we’re doing our best to keep sanctions as short as possible,” Carillo said.