With only hours of campaigning left, student government
candidates are becoming more creative in their final efforts to
keep students interested in the election, since tonight marks the
end of two straight weeks of campaigning.
Candidates faced disappointment after last week’s low
voter turnout, which came in at 28 percent of the undergraduate
population.
They put more energy and creativity into the campaign this week,
including handing out sudoku games and condoms, in order to gain
greater student attention and increase voter turnout.
Voting in the runoff election via MyUCLA ends tonight at 7
p.m.
Candidates have spent countless hours campaigning on Bruin Walk,
skipping classes, and sleeping only a few hours each night.
Bruins United internal vice president candidate Stacy Chang said
she is on Bruin Walk fliering all day, every day, regardless of
whether she has class, because she is dedicated to the
elections.
Students First! candidates said the hard work of campaigning
pays off because it allows them to talk with individual students on
a one-on-one basis.
“It’s really important to make sure people know
what’s going on. … We want (students) to be a part of the
experience,” said Students First! general representative
candidate Carlos Saucedo.
Scott Sia, a second-year math student who voted in the primary
election last week and the runoffs this week, said fliers are a
good method of campaigning because it sparks dialogue between
students and candidates.
“The most important part of fliering is the
talking,” Sia said.
To appeal to bored students, Bruins United added a Sudoku game
to their fliers, Chang said. Other Bruins United fliers include
coupons for Enzo’s Pizzeria and Best Buy’s Geek Squad,
a computer support service.
Students First! has begun passing out condoms with their
fliers.
Students First! presidential candidate Lucero Chavez joked that
the condoms are promoting “a safe UCLA campus.”
Both students and candidates said all the time and creativity
required in campaigning is worth it because campaigning, especially
fliering, is the best way to inform a large number of students
about the issues.
“Fliering is effective because it gets candidates
exposure. The fliers really helped me visualize who I would vote
for,” said Ava Mobini, a first-year molecular, cellular and
development biology student.
Without fliering, Linda Wang, a second-year biological
engineering student, said she would not have had any knowledge
about the election.
“The only reason I know about the elections is through
fliering,” she said.
Candidates and students are anxious for the election to be over
and its results announced, but also said campaigning is important
to establish a successful student government.
“I know students are sick of us, but it’s your duty
as a UCLA student to vote in the elections. Every student should
have a say,” Chang said.