Associated Students Legislative Council discussed A.S. Election Committee’s funding for their “Votetopia” campaign to mobilize student participation in the Spring Election during last night’s five-hour meeting.

The Council allocated additional funding for Votetopia from its Special Projects account to supplement the funding it received after originally requesting $7,543 from Finance Board to rent Corwin Pavilion and provide four times as many T-shirts for the event. The Council approved an allocation of $2,200 to the campaign, including $800 for free T-shirts, $360 for stickers and $200 for the results announcement.

A.S. Elections Committee Chair Sunjeet Gill said although over 40 percent of undergraduate students voted in last year’s Spring Election, she hopes the campaign will motivate an even higher turnout.

“These shirts can be worn year after year and we thought the theme would be fun,” Gill said. “We want more and more of a percentage to get out and vote each year.”

Representative-at-Large Danielle Mayorga said she thinks it will be difficult to distribute the T-shirts during the association’s four-day campaign.

“I did a month-long campaign once and even then it was hard to give away T-shirts with heavy publicizing,” Mayorga said. “There are so many T-shirts being given out already that it might be an overload.”

Off-campus Representative Jason Lopez said he feels the Elections Committee has already spent an excessive amount on advertising for Spring Elections.

“My main issue with this is that they paid almost $10,000 in ads,” Lopez said. “People who read the Nexus generally read it every day and they don’t need to see these ads in issue after issue.”

Some representatives suggested cost-cutting options such as announcing election results at a smaller venue and using an MP3 player instead of hiring a DJ.

The Council also passed a Resolution to Support the Execution of the Student-Initiated Democratic Education, a program that would allow undergraduate students to teach pass/no pass seminars.

Additionally, the Council approved a Resolution to Support the Implementation of the A.S. Food Bank. According to A.S. Executive Director Marisela Marquez, the food bank will be operational shortly.

The Council continued discussion about plans for their Isla Vista Annex and A.S. café. An informational meeting about the café will be held in the MultiCultural Center’s Multi-Purpose Room on April 28.

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