Questions regarding the University Board of Elections' policy on campaign spending arose last week after it was discovered that several candidates were using Facebook advertising without specifically citing who paid for the postings.
Ryan Taylor, third-year College student and Student Council executive vice presidential candidate, said he was contacted Tuesday via e-mail by Steve Yang, chair of University Board of Elections, about the way in which he posted and cited advertisements on Facebook.
Taylor said Yang did not think the "posted by" designation at the bottom of the flyer clearly illustrated the fact that it was "paid for by" the candidate.
"I did not declare that I had paid for the Facebook flyer itself even though it specifically said I posted it," Taylor said. "Steve Yang said it's not sufficient."
According to the board's elections rules and regulations, "All campaign materials or messages, except for chalk messages ... shall bear a visible or audible disclaimer stating who paid for the material or message."
Yang said the board could not comment on individual students or candidates.
He did state that "posted by" is not congruous with "paid for by."
"Any credit card may be used to purchase Facebook advertisements," Yang said. "Whose account it was posted under is not sufficient in describing who paid for it."
Todd Eley, third-year College student and Student Council EVP candidate, also posted Facebook advertisements without directly stating he paid for them.
Eley said numerous candidates had posted advertisements in a similar manner.
"There were a variety of candidates that were affected by this ... every race, across the board," Eley said.
Eley said he had not heard of any candidates being sanctioned for their advertisements, as the problem was "prolific."
Candidates were told to change or take down their Facebook advertisements as soon as possible, said Melissa B. Warnke, second-year College student and Student Council EVP candidate.
Taylor said he was most concerned about the financial aspect of the postings.
"It's costing me a lot of money," he said. "I don't get that $35 back."
Eley, who was not monetarily affected as his advertisements had already run, said his main concern with the ruling was that it gave some candidates an edge over others. Since the candidates' names must now appear in the text of the flyer in the "paid for" distinction, candidates with shorter names will have more space to include additional text while those with longer names will have more limited space, Eley said.
Yang, however, said he thought that the ruling created a level playing field.
"That's why we give them the rules," Yang said. "It is unfortunate that candidates did not understand that this rule applies to Facebook, but to us it was very clear that if they had read the rules, they would have known."
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