The University Board of Elections is updating its election system by moving the endorsement process away from paper registration in favor of a streamlined online procedure. In addition, the UBE has also altered the structure of the annual election debates.
In previous years, organizations that wanted to interview candidates and make endorsements had to submit paper registration forms and put up sign-up sheets.
Now, endorsing organizations register online and list their appointment times on an electronic scheduler.
Moving to an online system has made the process much more organized, board Chair Steve Yang said.
"It has always been a pain to deal with six or seven pieces of paper from one organization," Yang said.
Yang added that another benefit of moving the system online is that candidates and organizations can take more time to interview and make endorsements.
"We're always trying to maximize the amount of time candidates can interview and organizations can make their decisions," board member Christopher Jones said.
The gradual shift to an online system has left the entire election process almost completely paperless, though candidates still have to obtain a petition of handwritten signatures in order to be eligible to run for office.
Candidates interested in interviewing with organizations and potentially obtaining endorsements had to register as a candidate online and submit petitions by last Friday.
The other major change with the structure of this year's elections involves the way in which debates are scheduled.
Previously, the debates for all races within a particular governing body were held at together. For example, all candidates running in Honor Committee races would debate at the same time, Yang said.
According to Yang, the debates will be scheduled by school this year. Candidates for the roles of representatives in schools outside the College of Arts & Sciences will debate at 7 p.m. Feb. 20, and College candidates will debate at 8 p.m. the same day.
The debates for University-wide referenda and the Student Council executive board candidates will be held at 7 p.m. Feb. 21.
The purpose of organizing debates by school is to allow viewers to hear from all of the candidates who are running to represent them at one time.
"We decided to change it this year to make it easier for people in a particular school to see their candidates debate," Jones said.
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