CAMPUS
ELECTIONS
BROKEN BYLAWS
STORY
JASON SOLARES
LIZETH FUENTES
PHOTO
DIEGO DEVIA
Associated Student Government forced to reschedule
part of the election because of a breach in statute
As a result of multiple voting
and campaign violations, part of the
student government’s two-day election
process was delayed and invalidated.
By statute, Santa Ana College
students elect next year’s Associated
Student Government officials 60% of
the way through the spring semester.
On the first day of elections,
Monday April 29, an unidentified
candidate violated the Student
Constitution and Bylaws by verbally
endorsing another unidentified
candidate, Associate Dean of Student
Development Jennifer de la Rosa said.
Officials also discovered that an email
containing the website link for secure
voting had been sent to unauthorized
people and votes were being made
via cell phones instead of at the official
on-campus polling location. The email
with the link was meant to set up the
in-person computer voting stations.
“I wouldn’t say [the link] was
leaked because I don’t think it was
intentional but there were students
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el Don Santa Ana College · May 2019
who were voting not in person [on
April 29] which was another reason
why we felt we needed to remove
Monday’s result,” de la Rosa said.
De la Rosa said all votes made on
Monday were thrown out and an
email was sent to Monday voters
informing them of a rescheduled
election day May 6. However, some
students said they did not receive
any email and were unaware that
their vote was not counted.
Votes from May 6 replaced
those from April 29 and final
results of the election were
posted Wednesday, May 8.
Theodore Moreno was elected
the 2019-2020 Student Trustee.
Moreno will represent students
from both Santa Ana College and
Santiago Canyon College at Rancho
Santiago Community College
District board meetings next year.
Mariano Cuellar will be ASG president
for the 2019-2020 school year. Cuellar
was the spring 2019 Inter-Club
Council President and plans to bring
new resources for AB540 students.
“[My goals are] to advocate for
everyone equally at any conferences
we may hold, but to implement new
ideas on campus, and new resources
for AB540 students,” Cuellar told el Don
before the election. “That is something
on my agenda to accommodate for
any way I can. The majority of people
I know and love are undocumented.”
Officials declined to state who broke
the bylaw, but Chief Justice Magdalena
Soria said it was a presidential
candidate who endorsed another
person running for an ASG position.
“In an election should everybody
know the bylaws? Absolutely. But I
don’t think anybody [violated them]
intentionally,” de la Rosa said. “I don’t
think it was clear that by someone
supporting another person verbally
that it counts as an endorsement.
We need to work on clarifying
the bylaws so that they are less
confusing to those in the future.”
“As the new
president, I
will continue
to uphold the
truth.”
Mariano Cuellar
ASG President
2019-2020