USC Pres candidate appeals to review 40% vote of confidence

A day after the announcement of the results of the University and Local Student Councils Election 2024, the Student Commission on Election (S-COMELEC) has revealed that University Student Council (USC) President candidate Maillart Dean Diaz filed an appeal seeking to contest the percentage of the vote of confidence followed by the election body.

In his appeal addressed to the S-COMELEC and the Office of Student Affairs (OSA) Director, Dr. Gloria Gigante, Diaz cited Article XI, Section 56 of the 2019 Student Manual to contest that in cases of only one candidate running for a position, the candidate shall be subjected to the vote of confidence of 30% of each respective voter’s turnout.

Notably, during this year’s elections, the S-COMELEC announced a vote of confidence of 40% of the same, which was based on Article XI, Section 69 of the Constitution-and-By-Laws (CBL) signed by the OSA Director.

Upon receiving the appeal, the S-COMELEC sought the legal counsel of Atty. David Robert Aquino, the Dean of School of Law, who then interpreted that the CBL of the election body has not yet been elevated to the Board of Regents unlike the 2019 Student Manual.

“We note that policy declarations such as COMELEC Rules need appropriate approval from the policy making body which is the Board of Regents as endorsed by the University President. Thus, in this matter, the provisions of the Student Manual as approved by the Board prevails,” the attorney stated.

It can be remembered that based on the validated votes released by the S-COMELEC, the appellant candidate failed to reach the vote of confidence of 40%, receiving only 38%.

In their official Facebook page, the S-COMELEC said that its electoral board will “convene, subject to appropriate action vis-á-vis legal references.”