“Hi , have you heard about USAC elections?” says the campaigner, extending a flier and a smile.
“Don’t forget to vote! Check the website tonight!” the blue-clad student yells after you as you walk past without responding.
If you do respond, the friendly student will tell you about student government elections and why you should vote for a certain slate.
Whether the blue shirt identifies the campaigner as Bruins United or Students First!, the approach to campaigning for this year’s Undergraduate Student Association Council elections is the same according to both Bruins United and Students First! campaign heads ““ convince as many people to vote as possible.
Campaigning officially began at 11:59 p.m. Saturday, when candidates and their supporters gathered at Bruin Walk to put up the sign boards that now line the grass from Bruin Walk to Powell Library.
The two main slates, or groups of students who pool their resources and run under a common platform, gathered around 11:45 p.m. Each held a mini-rally before midnight where members introduced the candidates and started chants, both slates trying to drown out the other as they gathered materials.
“This is my favorite part, before all the nasty campaigning happens,” said General Representative 3 Tak Nguyen, a member of Bruins United.
Students put up sign boards from midnight until about 3 a.m., punctuating their work every so often with chants, 8-claps and random spurts of dancing.
Students First! sign boards are painted on wood and follow the theme of television shows, with candidates’ names, pictures and a few words about their platforms.
“All the candidates got together and thought that TV shows would be a great way to showcase our personalities,” said Matt Spring, a third-year political science student and Students First! general representative candidate. Spring’s board is based on the show “Glee.”
Bruins United sign boards, meanwhile, are uniform signs printed on canvas that display each candidate’s name and affiliation with Bruins United.
“Our (sign boards) are very simple. … We don’t want to be flashy, we don’t want to be showy,” said Anna Alexandroni, the Bruins United candidate for external vice president. “I think our platforms are more complicated and they’re more extensive; it’s hard to put it on one sign board.”
Each slate’s approach to sign boards is representative of its campaigning tactics as a whole.
Both slates said they are employing grassroots strategies and want to approach students individually and find out what they want from their leaders. Similarly, both slates plan to achieve this through face-to-face interaction as well as other tools such as Facebook and their slate websites.
Additionally, both slates said their most important goal is to encourage as many students to vote as possible, regardless of who they vote for. Last year, 38 percent of the student population voted in the election, and both slates said their aim is to increase this number.
Apart from the basic objective of pursuing individuals in person and online, the campaign approaches of the slates differ.
Students First! plans to gain additional attention through Bruin Walk fliering and a “power hour” every day at noon, during which student groups who support Students First! will perform and candidates will rally supporters, said George Chacon, Students First! campaign manager.
“This year we’re trying to really just engage more students, be as broad as possible, focus on every segment of campus and reach out to everyone,” Spring said.
Bruins United members are fliering along Bruin Walk and throughout campus as well, yet they are more focused on reaching out to individual students through leaders of student groups, having supporters talk to peers and putting posters where people live so they will be reminded of USAC elections, said Bruins United co-chairwoman Megan Ward.
“We have a renewed pledge to stay positive this year,” said Ward, a fourth-year communication studies student. “When the negative campaigning starts, students get turned off.”