The AMS Elections Committee has decided to reinstate the use of posters to campaign for the 2023 elections cycle.
Posters have been banned since 2019 due to the waste generated from posters, the financial resources they required and the time-consuming efforts they necessitated to ensure elections regulations were not violated.
When asked about these concerns, the Elections Committee said in a written statement that the decision of reinstating posters was taken with great consideration and would help increase voter turnout.
“We firmly believe this [decision] will help promote voter turnout in the upcoming election,” the Committee wrote.
The Elections Committee said it was equipped to handle any complaints about posters — referencing one of the reasons for the ban of this campaign practice back in 2019 — and it will strictly enforce rules on where candidates can and cannot poster on campus.
“We will have strict guidelines on the number of posters candidates may have during the election so that we can reduce waste. In addition to this, we are also giving candidates clear rules on when to remove posters” the Elections Committee added.
The Elections Committee has also decided all billing for printed materials will be from its own budget if candidates choose to use the Committee’s preferred vendor.
The Committee said it would also use QR codes to determine the effectiveness of postering during elections.
“At the end of this election cycle, we will review how effective it was to use posters and if it helped increase turnout and report back to Council on future recommendations on using posters during elections," the Committee said.
Cole Evans, former AMS president and VP administration, said the AMS is making a good decision to bring back the use of posters in elections.
“I've always been a proponent of postering. I think that if it's regulated properly, and that rules are enforced, and that people are respectful of postering, and maybe there's even a limit on how many posters you can print, so you're not just killing a bunch of trees [then] I think that it's a good decision to bring it back.” said Evans.
Evans ran for VP administration in 2019 when postering was allowed but it was banned the following year when he ran for president.
He believes postering help increase awareness of elections on campus since posters can be put in places where people pay attention to high traffic areas unlike campaign materials like lawn signs.
“It'll be exciting to see posters back this year," he said. "I think it's always a positive when student interest is generated in AMS elections and student leadership.”