This 2018-2019 school year, Senate and Presidential candidates for the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) will have the chance to have their campaign finances reimbursed.
Resolution #08, otherwise known as the Election Reform Package, adjusts specifics about elections such as: lowering campaign budget limits, permitting the use of USG purchased or donated supplies for a campaign and covering the cost of Presidential and Senate campaigns after auditing their receipts.
The greatest changes from the resolution effect Article V, Section 3.v of the USG Bylaws which its newly updated version now states:
“Candidates and campaigns may spend money to procure campaign materials. Candidates for Senate may not exceed forty dollars ($40) spent on their campaign. Presidential tickets may not exceed two hundred dollars ($200) spend on their campaign. All candidates and campaigns must present a copy of all receipts to the Elections Commission before polls close. The Undergraduate Student Government shall cover the cost of Presidential campaigns via reimbursement upon auditing of receipts. The Undergraduate Student Government shall provide the same service to Senate campaigns upon request. Reimbursements will only cover the actual expenses of a campaign if the campaign used less than the allotted limitation. Any violation of Subsection v. Campaign Finance Regulations will be considered an elections violation.”
Matthew Walter, USG Pro-Tempore and third year political science and public policy double-major, created this election reform package to remove the financial obstacles potential candidates may face while campaigning. “This package was specifically in response to some concerns I had heard from friends, students who want to get involved but feel very daunted by the price,” he said.
According to Walter, part of the issue was the misinterpretation students had about the maximum sum candidates can spend on a campaign—some thinking it’s a set, required amount. “It’s actually pretty common for senators to use far less,” Walter explains, “in order to assuage those fears, one step was we reduce the caps.”
Before the resolution, the maximum amount candidates could spend in a Senate campaign was $60. In Presidential campaigns, the maximum amount used to be $300.
Candidates running for Senate are applicable to receive a reimbursement upon request and will be approved after auditing the campaign’s receipts. Candidates campaigning to be President are required to use USG funds to run. “This comes off of a desire to have closer auditing of campaign finances,” said Walter who described previous issues with not being able to collect accurate receipts of exactly how much Presidential candidates were spending in a campaign. “[This] also arises from concerns from dark money come through college campuses,” said Walter. With the new reform, USG will have full rights to audit what’s being purchased.
Students can read the full resolution here.
