As the polls close at 6 p.m. today, students have begun to weigh in on the changes implemented during the spring elections.
Steve Yang, University Board of Election's chair, said, "We're working hard to enforce rules and regulations for all candidates."
UBE has increased publicity this year and is encouraging students to vote using flyers, banners, e-mails sent to schools and class years and Facebook, Yang added.
"We've especially increased advertising on Facebook because we understand that's where a lot of students spend time," Yang said.
Despite the increase in publicity of the elections themselves, individual candidates seem to be campaigning less.
"I haven't seen as many [fliers and chalk] as I have in past years, part of that might just be with the weather," Yang said.
In addition to more election publicity, UBE has extended the period during which students can vote from six days to one week. The period was extended from three to six days three years ago for the spring 2005 elections and resulted in a 29 percent increase in voter turnout, according to a study released by UBE.
"It doesn't hurt anyone and provides more opportunity for students to vote," Yang said.
Students this year also had the option of filling out an anonymous survey after voting.
According to the responses the UBE has reviewed so far, many students said they voted in order to support student self-governance and to voice their opinion on the Honor sanction reform referendum.
UBE also implemented new rules for this year's election, including a rule prohibiting candidates from setting up voting stations due to a possible bias.
"Even though candidates mean well, it's inherently biased," Yang said.
UBE also eliminated the use of line chalk, a type of chalk that is difficult to remove.
In addition to creating new rules, UBE clarified rules relating to electronic campaigning, Yang said.
According to the new rules, organizations endorsing candidates can only send e-mails to their members and not to the entire student body.
"There seems to be a lot of rules," Minority Rights Coalition Chair Patrick Martinez said. "They all have a reason but some of them are annoying."
Martinez cited the rules restricting endorsing organizations from sending mass e-mails announcing their endorsements as particularly frustrating.
"If it is public knowledge, which it is public knowledge, it should be freely distributed," Martinez said.
Yang said the rule was created in response to students' complaints that they had received too many e-mails from student organizations endorsing candidates.
Martinez said the MRC has used the e-mail lists of its member organizations to announce endorsements.
Endorsing organizations also discussed the new on-line scheduling system.
"It was a little difficult at first, but overall it made things a lot easier," outgoing Inter-Sorority Council President Massie Payne said.
Martinez said he hopes in future years the online interview scheduling will be accessible to multiple members of an endorsing organization who will be interviewing candidates, while this year it was only accessible to one point person within the organization.
In an effort ot increase voter turnout, Fourth Year Trustees President Ross Baird said he sent out e-mails to the fourth-year class encouraging them to vote.
"Voter turnout is always a matter of relevance and the by the time the candidates who win take office, the fourth years will be gone," Baird said.
According to last year's UBE report, 1,222 fourth-year students voted in spring elections, the lowest turnout of the four undergraduate classes. The turnout made up 33 percent of the class, according to the report.
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