Hoping to boost voter turnout, the Election Board for this year’s undergraduate student government elections is holding a “Meet the Candidates” event tonight for the first time.
Debates, endorsement hearings and campaign materials distribution have historically taken place on campus. This year, the Election Board organized an event intended to be informational and strictly neutral. It was planned prior to the announcement of candidates on April 25.
Debates have been held on the Hill in the past, but they are not very interactive, said Eena Singh, chair of the Election Board and a third-year anthropology student. The point of tonight’s “Meet the Candidates,” Singh said, is to give undergraduates access to the candidates personally.
The Election Board will introduce the candidates and their platforms to students at the event. The candidates will be given the opportunity to have a one-on-one interactive Q-and-A session with students interested in their platforms, Singh said.
The event aims to create a neutral setting and environment for a discussion about the issues that will be prevalent in the election, she said.
Singh said a business casual dress code was set for the candidates to ensure they remain neutral and do not wear any clothing that advocates for one candidate or slate.
Hosting the event on the Hill is intended to add to the neutrality of the event, Singh said, because the Office of Residential Life sets its own rules and regulations regarding campaigning. The distribution of campaign materials is not allowed on the Hill, according to the Office of Residential Life’s regulations for elections.
The Election Board will also give students information about a referendum on the ballot to increase student fees by $3 per quarter in order to provide funding for student programming. A constitutional amendment proposing a name change from the Student Welfare Commission to the Student Wellness Commission will be discussed as well.
The event targets first-year students but is open to the rest of the student population as well. The election is largely uncontested, which some students say has made them less inclined to cast a vote. Ignacio Torres, a third-year psychobiology student, said he has voted in Undergraduate Students Association Council elections in the past. But the lack of competition this year has made him unlikely to vote, he said.
“I’m not really interested, especially now that there is only one slate,” Torres said. “There’s not much point in voting or going to events if (the elections are) uncontested.”
Singh said the event is chiefly intended to help first-year students who live on the Hill learn about student government, since this is their first taste of student government elections.
Mara Behar, a first-year undeclared student, said she had not heard of the event. She added that she thought it would help better inform undergraduate voters and help students grasp the issues.
Contributing reports by James Barragan, Bruin senior staff.