The University Board of Elections released final expenditure reports yesterday, marking the last step in this year's spring elections process.
The UBE released both the final reports for candidates and endorsing organizations. At the end of February, candidates also submitted interim expenditure reports that were available online as part of the Board's voting guide for students.
The UBE and candidates expressed satisfaction with the new system of expenditures and expenditure reporting.
"I think the biggest advantage is that it adds transparency to the process and shows voters exactly how the candidates are spending their money," UBE Vice Chair Steve Yang said.
As previously reported in The Cavalier Daily, however, the UBE accidentally set the deadline for final expenditure reports for March 8, during spring break. Despite extending the deadline to last Thursday, as of yesterday the UBE had not received several reports.
These included reports from the First Year Council, Student Athletic Advisory Committee, the Inter-Fraternity Council and Phi Eta Sigma. Second-year College student Noah Sullivan was the only Student Council Presidential candidate to turn in a final expenditure report.
Yang said the UBE would discuss making the submission process electronic for next year.
"The one bad thing was that everything was in paper," Yang said. "We hope to move to electronic submissions in the future in order to streamline the process."
Yang added the UBE would also consider setting a later submission date for the interim reports so that more spending would be reflected.
Many candidates did not spend any additional money after the interim reports were submitted. Several candidates, however, most of whom ran for contested positions, more than doubled their interim spending.
Second-year College students and Honor candidates David Hobbs and Dom Genest, second-year College student and UJC candidate Tim Ormsby, Sullivan, and third-year College student and Fourth Year Class Presidential candidate Kat Shea were the only candidates to spend more than $100 after the interim report. Those candidates, in addition to third-year College students and Honor candidates Hunter Jamerson and Meghan Sullivan, third-year College student Greg Scanlon and second-year College student Elliot Haspel, were the only candidates to spend over $100 during the entire campaign.
The Minority Rights Coalition, the Inter-Sorority Council, the National Society of Collegiate Scholars and the University Democrats were the only endorsing organizations to spend money on behalf of candidates, of those reporting.
Unlike last year's elections, which were overseen by a Student Council committee, candidates did not have a spending limit, but were required to document what they did spend to the UBE.
Hobbs, one of the winners of the Honor race, said the new system was an improvement over last year's.
"The new expenditure process was a better system because it allowed candidates themselves to decide upon a reasonable level of spending, instead of the UBE setting requirements, but it also kept things reasonable by keeping all the candidates accountable," Hobbs said.
Sullivan said the new system was useful mostly to keep candidates in check, not sway voters.
"It made people aware that they were going to be under scrutiny," Sullivan said. "The great benefit is not that it's going to change voters' decisions, but it forces discipline on candidates."
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