By Raymond Nava
Students at East Los Angeles College will be able to vote in the upcoming elections starting on Monday April 26.
Students will be voting on positions for the ELAC Associated Student Union. Nominees for Los Angeles Community College District Student Trustee will also be on the ballot.
Positions up for grabs are ASU President, Executive Vice President, Vice President of Finance, Vice President of Advocacy and ASU Chief Delegate.
The positions of Vice President of South Gate, Vice President of Public Relations, Treasurer and Secretary have no candidate running and will not be on the ballot.
They will become vacant at the start of the new term. Of the five races on the ballot only two are being contested.
The office of Chief Delegate is an open race where no incumbent is seeking reelection.
The only candidate contesting the office is Xiaoting Yin. The duties of the Chief Delegate revolve around the Inter-Club Council. Chief Delegates prepare rosters of Inter-Club Council delegates, report the activities of the ICC to the ASU Board and prepare and post the ICC’s meeting minutes and agenda.
The office of Vice President of Advocacy is another race that is open. The only candidate contesting the office is Jamie Deharo who is running as a write-in candidate.
The office is tasked with serving as the Parliamentarian for the ASU Board and has the authority to interpret Robert’s Rules of Order. These are rules that govern the ASU, similar to the Parliamentarian for the United States Senate.
They are also tasked with coordinating voter registration drives and making information available to students, attending student grievances and disciplinary hearings and having the authority to appoint two Associate Justices of the ASU Supreme Court, with approval of a two thirds majority of the board.
The office of Executive Vice President is also being uncontested with incumbent Vice President of Advocacy Alondra Pacheco being the only candidate running.
The Vice President is tasked with serving as president in any event of a vacancy happening for the office. The VP is tasked with partaking in any duties or activities the president normally does if they are absent at the time.
They also prepare a calendar of club activities for the semester and chair the ICC meeting.
The office of Vice President of Finance is one of two offices contested by more than one candidate.
Incumbent ASU Senator Michelle Dang is currently running for the office as well as Lizeth Huerta and Michael Graham.
The Vice President of Finance is tasked with scheduling and chairing all meetings of the Budgetary Affairs committee. They are also chair of the Benefits Committee and sign off on all disbursement requests.
The last ASU office up for election is the office of President. The race is currently between two candidates.
Current Chief Delegate Paul Medina and incumbent Vice President Rosa Mendoza are currently running for the office.
The President presides over all ASU Board meetings and keeps the board informed of all activities that affect the students and the student government. They also are tasked with appointing ASU senators.
The winner of the election will get to make appointments to the offices that are left vacant as a result of no candidate filing to run for the position in question this year. The power for the ASU President to do this is laid out in the ASU constitution.
In addition to elections for the ASU, the LACCD Student Trustee is also up for election. The Student Trustee is tasked with advocating and representing the interest of LACCD students on their behalf. Aryan Bhattarai and Coraima Martinez are the two candidates running in the election.
Voting for the elections began Monday and will end on Friday. Students received an email with a link of instructions on how to vote.
A link to the elections can also be accessed on the LACCD student homepage.