The Friday interview: Zach De La Rosa

Zach De La Rosa wants you to know that rewriting the student election laws was all part of a much larger process.

“We went through the entire Student Code and rewrote the entire thing,” explained De La Rosa.

In the wake of the scandal-ridden 2011 student body election, the system needed some reform and clarification. For all the complaining that goes on about the red tape in student elections, it prevents disruptive campaigning.

“We looked at Title VI, and we said a lot of things aren’t clear — so we came up with a new Title VI.”

This led to the implementation of the points system that now governs campaign infractions. When found guilty of an infraction, candidates are now awarded points corresponding to the severity of the offense. Points lead to deductions in spending limits and, if enough are accrued, disqualification.

The implementation of this system was a much-needed reform from the arbitrary nature of the old fines system.

Prior to the overhaul, the fines system was opaque.

“We decided to say then there is going to be a hearing process,” said De La Rosa. “A formalized process that gives the Board of Elections the role of a judiciary.”

The board can now hear the plaintiff and defendant of each case and issue a decision along with a number of penalty points when enough evidence exists, adjusting the penalty based on the findings of the hearing.

“Someone sending out an email 30 minutes before they’re allowed to is different than advertising on a mass scale,” De La Rosa said, using the violation of a false start as an example. “And they shouldn’t have the same bearing on disqualification.”

This process will be employed to evaluate complaints that accuse candidates Will Lindsey and Hetali Lodaya of campaign violations.

Title VI states that before gaining the required signatures, candidates are only allowed to campaign on a private and discrete basis. The motivation behind the inclusion of this rule was to combat candidates taking advantage of the new opportunity to collect signatures online.

Though they seem arbitrary, rules like this prevent students from being hounded for signatures weeks before the campaign by candidates they know nothing about.

Zach Gaver is an editorial board member for The Daily Tar Heel.