The ASSU campaign season officially kicks off in White Plaza on Friday, April 2, but ambitious candidates are already maneuvering for endorsements and consulting campaign managers.
Special fees group financial officers and candidates attended information sessions by the Elections Commission on Wednesday and Thursday night to hear campaign rules, which are set by the ASSU Joint Bylaws — giving attendees the opportunity to size up the competition and form alliances for the weeks to come.
Speaking to this year’s crop of freshly-minted ASSU candidates in Old Union on Wednesday night, Elections Commissioner Quinn Slack ’11 set down the guidelines for the upcoming campaign week. The main changes this year are the introduction of the public financing scheme and the abolishment of the “fair campaign” system.
Candidates running for executive, Undergraduate Senate, Graduate Student Council (GSC) and class president positions may be reimbursed for campaign expenses through public funds. If determined eligible, executive slates may receive up to $750; Senate candidates and class president slates, $20; student groups, $50; and GSC candidates, $50.
“We think you know how to spend this money to inform students about the issues much better than we [the Elections Commission] could,” Slack said. Using financial data from campaigns from the past three years, Slack said that the specified amounts make campaigning free for most people running.
According to Slack, only one executive slate, that of Angelina Cardona ’11 and Kelsei Wharton ’12, is eligible for public financing this year after gathering valid signatures from at least 50 graduate students and 50 undergrads on their petition last week.
The second change is the move away from the “fair campaign” label, which in previous years noted on the ballot the candidates who had followed campaign rules, particularly in regard to publicity and flyering.
“There is no fair campaign system [this year],” Slack told the assembled candidates. “We trust you and we think you can handle this responsibility.”
The Elections Commission still handed out the gold ASSU-approved stickers, but candidates are not required to use them on their flyers. Slack and his assistant commissioners, sophomore Cotis Mitchell and graduate student Mary Van der Hoven, will not be enforcing flyer limits.
Slack said on Wednesday, however, that Residential Education rules about flyering in dorms — where, in bathrooms and hallways, some dorms restrict flyering — still apply.
Throughout the week before the April 8 election, White Plaza will be reserved during the lunch hour for election tabling. Candidates may also post and update their own Web page on the election Web site.
Securing endorsements is the next phase for many of ASSU hopefuls. Seven student groups are offering endorsements through the Elections Commission Web site: the Students of Color Coalition (SOCC), the Green Alliance for Innovative Action (GAIA), the Queer Coalition, the Jewish Student Association, The Stanford Review, the Women’s Coalition and The Stanford Daily. The Stanford Progressive is also endorsing candidates.
Endorsing groups generally require some combination of application and interview to determine the candidates they will support. Questions range from campus involvement to platform priorities to which ASSU programs the candidate would choose to eliminate.
Timelines for endorsement notifications vary by group, but most are expected to publicize their lists by the first week of spring quarter.