The ASUC Judicial Council nominated Ferdous Joya as public defender after conducting interviews Thursday night.

Joya, a junior-transfer student majoring in political science, will be the first student to fill the new role if confirmed by a two-thirds majority of the ASUC Senate. The role of public defender was established by Senate Bill 48 last January with the purpose of creating a nonpartisan expert in ASUC bylaws to represent students or organizations before the Judicial Council.

Joya said in an email that he hopes to facilitate fair elections, as in his past experience he has learned that elections can become “gritty and unfair.” He previously served as executive vice president of the Associated Student Senate at Santa Rosa Junior College.

Five members of the nine-person Judicial Council and two nonvoting members interviewed three candidates for the position out of the original nine applicants. In their deliberations, they focused on candidates who had knowledge of and experience with the ASUC bylaws and those who had no affiliation with ASUC political parties.

Emma Ireland, chief justice of the Judicial Council, said impartiality is extremely important in public defenders because they should not have any biases when representing a student or organization.

Joya said that he applied for the position in order to help students and that he believes the public defender facilitates a more fair election process.

“There are many qualified students on campus that could run for office and improve our school if only they had a more fair chance of winning an election through proper representation,” Joya said in an email. “With more opportunity and fairness in the election process from my representation, more students will participate in the political process.”