The posters are hung and the sandwich boards are mounted.
Campaigning for the spring elections is in full swing, with some additional publicity strategies for this year’s candidates.
Aside from debates and fliers, candidates are turning to Facebook.com messaging as a way to reach voters, although the method may be in violation of the Student Body statutes.
According to the chapter 7-4.9 of the statues, “no candidate shall send e-mails to potential voters without explicit permission.”
The question, according to candidates, becomes whether messaging Facebook users constitutes random messaging without explicit permission or is another way of establishing contact with acquaintances.
James Hankins, a sophomore in political science, said he plans to message members of his Facebook campaign group reminding them about elections, “preferably voting for me.” Hankins is running for Student Senate president.
He pointed to group membership as voluntary and said members of campaign groups can expect to see messages from the candidates they are supporting.
“People who join Facebook groups are acknowledging an acquaintance,” said Kevin Hassell, chair of the Student Government elections commission.
He compared it to making an announcement to a class the candidate was enrolled in, assuming that the people in the class would be his or her acquaintance.
Although Hassell cited messaging as a violation — similar to mass e-mailing — he said it will only be confronted if the violations are reported by students who are messaged.
Each instance will be judged on a case-by-case basis, he said, but people who are friends or members of groups are being regarded as acquaintances and messaging them will not pose a serious threat to this year’s candidates.
“Facebook has been very spontaneous this year,” Hassell said.
He reminded students to report violations they observe to the commission within 24 hours and include their name, the time, date and location of the violation.
Matt Walton, a sophomore in technology education and candidate for Student Senate president, said he messaged his Facebook friends to invite them to his group.
“I don’t randomly message people. I randomly invite people to my group,” he said. “By being in a social networking Web site, it is similar to approaching someone on the Brickyard.”
Other candidates, such as Zach Adams, a senior in industrial engineering, said they have sent messages thanking members for their support.
Adams said he would only message people that he is already friends with.
“That’s something I wouldn’t really have a lot of time for — it’s not a good use of the Senate’s time,” he said.