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Campaign spending caps to be voluntary

By Menaka Fernando

March 5, 2003 9:00 p.m.

The undergraduate student government implemented voluntary
campaign spending caps Tuesday after courts recently ruled that
universities could not regulate spending rules for student
elections ““ a significant change from past years.

With a 9-0-1 vote, the Undergraduate Students Association
Council voted to include voluntary spending caps in its elections
code with the recommendation of Elections Board Chair Joe
Vardner.

E-board made its recommendation based on two recent court
rulings concerning spending caps at two University of California
campuses, Vardner said.

The U.S. District Court ruled that spending limits were
unconstitutional in the UC Irvine and UC Riverside undergraduate
student council elections when elected student officials were
disqualified for exceeding their spending limits.

The courts based their decision on the 1974 Supreme Court case,
Buckley v. Valeo, when it ruled that spending limits violated First
Amendment rights.

The removal of spending caps from UCLA’s elections policy
was in the university’s best interest, said E-board Adviser
Mike Cohn.

“It is important that we comply with the law … I
don’t want to see USAC taken to court,” Cohn said.

With the absence of mandatory spending caps, council recommended
that the E-board include voluntary spending limits in the code.

USAC motioned for the E-board to recommend that candidates set
their own campaign spending limits. But candidates will not be
punished for exceeding the caps.

Councilmembers plan on recommending specific cap amounts based
on historical caps, but candidates can decide whether to follow
these caps.

But like in every election, candidates will still have to
disclose their campaign expenses to students as required by E-board
policy.

USAC made a good decision in creating some sort of equity among
candidates within the confines of the law, Vardner said.

“It makes the (code) legal and makes it less likely that
the elections will be overturned,” he said. “It adds to
the integrity of the elections.”

Most councilmembers said they based their decision to implement
voluntary spending caps to help increase students’ access to
USAC.

“All students should have the ability to run for
office,” said Financial Supports Commissioner Andrew
LaFlamme.

“If there was a possibility for someone to have a dominant
advantage because of resources, voluntary spending caps are a way
to level the field,” LaFlamme said.

But some councilmembers said they would have liked to see a
specific voluntary cap included in the code.

“I would like to see something more stringent,” said
Academic Affairs Commissioner Chris Diaz, but added that he was
still satisfied with the final decision.

Overall, council was united in recommending voluntary caps to
the E-board.

“We are pretty much united on the issue,” said
General Representative Adam Harmetz. “Its just about being
unconstitutional and being equal.”

Councilmembers also established this year’s elections
calendar at the meeting.

Council decided to push back a week the original dates that
E-board recommended to give candidates more time to think about the
elections, Diaz said.

The schedule change shouldn’t pose a problem, Cohn
said.

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