Candidates running for SGA offices have to comply with the campaign laws outlined in the Elections Procedures Manual produced each year.
The manual covers topics such as dates for the election, candidate orientation, candidate forums, public rallies, candidate eligibility, ethical campaigning and rules concerning chalking.
SGA elections are a process that requires the participation of student groups, SGA candidates, University staff and voters.
As such, campaign laws are subject to change when new realities necessitate new regulation.
Kelli Knox-Hall, senior assistant director of Ferguson Center operations and co-convener of the elections board for the upcoming SGA election, said there are a couple of changes that have been made to the campaign manual.
“The only real change to the elections procedures manual is the additional section concerning campaigning with the online format,” Knox-Hall said. “No mobile polling stations are allowed.”
Knox-Hall said in 2009, because of the new capacity for students to cast their vote online, some candidates were reported to have solicited votes by having supporters carry around laptops and urge students to vote for a particular candidate.
This year’s manual under the heading of “Election Day Campaigning” states, “Campaigning or solicitation of votes is strictly prohibited inside on-campus residence halls & in UA housing facilities (e.g. The Bluffs). Candidates or organizations may not set-up mobile voting stations, laptops or polling locations on or off campus or solicit votes in on-campus buildings via mobile devices.”
Edward Patton, a candidate running for vice president of financial affairs, said the rumored solicitation last year most likely occurred because of the gray areas involved with the introduction of technology as a means to cast votes.
Nicole Bohannon, who is running unopposed for executive vice president, said that the candidates were fully informed this year in their candidate orientations about the prohibition on using laptops to create polling stations.
Knox-Hall said campaign violations reported to the Elections Board each year are predominantly minor in nature and that last year was no exception.
“The most common violations are minor, such as chalking violations or not posting flyers on designated bulletin boards,” Knox-Hall said.
She also said that she did not see any evidence last year of coordinated coercion or intimidation.
“The solicitation was not the result of one particular candidate’s actions,” Knox-Hall said. “It happened in a number of campaigns, and the candidates for the most part had good intentions.”
