Financial reports for the undergraduate student government elections were released by the Elections Board Wednesday, detailing expenses for each candidate, as well as for the student fee referendum, Practicing Leadership and Empowerment to Develop Growth thru Education ““ PLEDGE.
The total expenses for the candidates and the referendum were just more than $28,000, which included monetary donations as well as the market value of any donated materials.
Participants raised money through a combination of fundraisers and donations campaign organizers said. Each slate, groups of students with similar interests who campaign on a similar platform, pooled campaign money.
The historically unopposed in-house candidates, who recently formed a new slate called SERVE, participated in the campaign this year, traditionally a time when they prepare their offices for the coming year, said Farhan Banani, candidate for community service commissioner.
When QUALIFIED was formed, Students First! shared its resources with SERVE, giving the in-house candidates the solution to an abrupt need for campaign funds, Banani said.
The expenses for QUALIFIED totaled $11,000, more than Bruins United’s expenses of about $8,000.
Cinthia Flores, the presidential candidate for Students First!, said the coalition’s expenses were higher because it ensures its materials are sustainable and that its shirts are made with sweatshop-free labor. She added that a lot of the group’s fundraising comes from T-shirt sales.
Similarly, Bruins United divided its funds evenly among the candidates running for its slate.
“Our campaign materials are for Bruins United, not an individual candidate,” said Anh Nguyen, the slate’s candidate for Cultural Affairs commissioner. “We work as a team.”
Boris Lipkin, a Bruins United campaign manager, attributes the slate’s lower total of expenses to its efficient campaign strategy.
“Campaigns are expensive, but it’s important that the message gets out,” he said. “We use our resources efficiently so our money can go to better things.”
The expenses for the PLEDGE referendum totaled about $8,800. Patty Alfaro, a referendum organizer, said the majority of donations were supplies and that the bulk of the money went to paraphernalia campaigners distributed.
She added that the group tried to run a grassroots campaign employing inexpensive techniques like painting its own signs, rather than purchasing them, and having the Marching Band play.
Alfaro said the referendum expenses were high because they were campaigning to the whole campus, rather than targeting specific groups of students.
Several candidates, as well as the PLEDGE referendum, were sanctioned ““ a penalty for violating the election code ““ for turning their finance reports in after the deadline set by the Elections Board. Sanctions are made in response to a formal complaint submitted to the Elections Board, who then assesses the situation and gives the appropriate penalty.
With contributing reports from Lucy Benz-Rogers and Neha Jaganathan, Bruin senior staff.