Tritons United — one of the two A.S. Election slates — currently faces a grievance for allegedly campaigning for Joey Giltner as their presidential candidate despite Giltner not being registered for the election. The bylaw in question is Election Code §4.1.b.2, which states that “Information intended to mislead or deceive voters as to the mechanics of the election shall not be written on any campaign material.”

The grievance — which can be found on the A.S. Election website’s “Complaints Listing” — was filed by a student named Eric Ramirez. Attached to the grievance are four screenshots of Facebook posts from Tritons United and Joey Giltner that either imply or explicitly state that he is running for A.S. Council President.

Joey Giltner confirmed that he did not end up filing to be a presidential candidate but the slate had already ordered and printed materials with his name on it. He stated that Tritons United is aware of the claims and is currently addressing the alleged violations. In addition, Giltner discussed how Tritons United is willing to work with anyone to resolve any concerns that they have.

“I am apologetic if people are confused,” Giltner told the UCSD Guardian. “All of our contact information is up there [on the website] and I wish they would’ve contacted us before [they filed the grievance.] We’re very responsive to any emails or texts that we do get. If they had questions, we would’ve loved to answer them and schedule a meeting.”

However, Tritons United is currently in the process of revising its materials to emphasize the slate’s other candidates.

“To combat the confusion, we’re highlighting the senators because they are the voting members on A.S. Council,” Giltner said. “They are who the school should be focusing on.”

Students Determined, the opposing election slate, declined to comment on the grievance against Tritons United. The slate also faces a grievance for allegedly violating Election Code §3.5.e, which states that “If a slate wishes to reserve space on Library Walk during the campaigning period, the primary representative may reserve space through CSI/OneStop.” However, the complaint does not specifically state how the code was violated.

Giltner told the Guardian that he would try to work with the complainant to retract her grievance.

“The person who filed that grievance is not affiliated with us at all, but I know her and have asked her to drop it because I get what was happening and it’s just not that big of a deal,” Giltner said.

According to A.S. Elections Manager Claire Maniti, for any grievances filed, the Elections Committee will hold a hearing regarding the alleged violation and make a ruling on it during the first two weeks of Spring Quarter.

“If a slate is found in violation of an election bylaw code, appropriate sanctions would be applied,” Maniti told the UCSD Guardian.

All three registered presidential candidates — Dominick Suvonnasupa (Tritons United), Daniel Juarez (Students Determined) and Rush Patel (independent) — declined to comment on the grievances. Also, the Guardian contacted Eric Ramirez but he could not be reached by press time.

Additional reporting by Olga Golubkova, Quinn Pieper and Maria Sebas.