The University Board of Elections released the newest set of rules and regulations for the upcoming spring election Tuesday morning.
While there were "several revisions to the rules," the main changes were expanding the voting period to eight days from last year's six, University Board of Elections Chair Steve Yang said.
"There are several substantive changes for the campaigns, including the use of voting stations by candidates," Yang said.
In addition, the rules will now place more restrictions on candidates during the campaign period and petitions will have to include student e-mail addresses.
He said the changes are meant to make campaigning and elections fairer and more organized for both candidates and voters.
"We put campaigning rules in the first two pages to make it easier and more straightforward for candidates," Yang said.
Neha Kumar, University Board of Elections vice chair, said that when processing the rules there will now be a greater emphasis on communication with student organizations involved in the elections.
"We highlighted communication with organizations for which we hold the elections," Kumar said.
Yang said that the UBE voted to release the recent changes to the public before they are enacted for election season.
"We invite everyone to review these rules and submit any comments to the Board by this Saturday, because they don't go into effect until after this public common period," Yang said.
He added that the public comment period is meant for people to familiarize themselves with the rules and have the opportunity to give the UBE feedback.
"Next week, we'll vote the rules into effect," Yang said. "We can't make the changes without everybody knowing about them."
Members of the UBE have been working on the changes since the last round of elections.
"For the past year, we really focused on filling in the gaps," Kumar said. "The UBE is a relatively new organization and with each round of elections, we're able to identify holes in the system."
Yang said he is confident about the changes and is looking forward to seeing positive results.
"We are optimistic about the improvements to the process this spring for candidates as well as voters," Yang said.
Kumar agreed that she is also eager to "see the payoff" of UBE's efforts.
The calendar and new rules are posted on the UBE website
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