The ASSU has received more than 100 declarations of intent from undergraduate students running for executive president, executive vice-president, class president or senator. This is a sharp increase in the number of candidates who will run, up from 48 in 2004.

The students appearing on the official roster of candidates will have to receive a set number of signatures of support, varying from 100 for senatorial candidates to 200 for executive slates, which consist of two people. The only other requirement for the candidates running is to attend a Campaign Practice Code meeting tonight.

The meeting will cover this year’s reforms to the ASSU election process, which were made in hopes of preventing improper campaigning. In 2004, the misuse of e-mail lists for campaigning resulted in the overturn of the first election’s results, prompting the need for a special election.

The ASSU has since clarified the candidates’ right to any form of free speech, which includes endorsement from student groups and free use of e-mail lists for campaign promotion, as long as the messages fulfill the list’s original purpose, according to University rules.

ASSU Chair Chris Lin, a senior, hopes that these new changes will leave little room for confusion.

“There tends to be a lot of controversy surrounding ASSU elections, usually about one a year,” Lin said. “We’re going to take kind of a hands-off approach.”

According to ASSU Elections Commissioner Troy Steinmetz, a sophomore, this method will give the power to regulate campaign behavior over to the voters.

“Short of [someone] hacking into the campaign system, most everything else is going to fall into the hands of the University and the voters.”

“Voters are going to know that they’re the first line of defense against ridiculous campaign behavior,” he added.

Steinmetz noted that overuse of the new e-mail policy would end up being counter-productive for the candidates and several have already decided against that type of propaganda altogether.

“We do not plan to do a lot of glitzy advertising or spamming, [but] will focus our campaigning on face-to-face meetings with as many students as possible,” said ASSU executive candidate Melanie Kannokada, a junior, who is running with junior Aneto Okonkwo. Okonkwo is also a reporter for The Daily.

Freshman senatorial candidate Kai Lukoff said he is skeptical of the campaigning process in general.

“From what I’ve heard, campaigning is just a ludicrous popularity contest, but one that you have to participate in [in order to be elected],” he said.

Lukoff added that he plans to take a more traditional approach to campaigning by meeting friends of friends in other dorms.

“It’s a more honest mechanism that provides a character recommendation rather than the superficiality of sitting in the bathroom stall and looking at the flashiest flyer,” Lukoff said.

He said he hopes to use a campaign strategy that highlights his platform of “simple changes that could be used to improve life at Stanford.”

Lin said he thinks that many of the campaigns, however, will focus on bigger issues such as the new undergraduate housing plans and student space.

Kannokada cited both as major components of her slate’s platform, especially in regards to creating “more welcoming 24-hour study, play and group-project space across campus.”

There is no single cause for rise in the number of candidates, though Lin suggested a variety of factors — notably the change from a four-person junior-class presidential slate to a five-person one, which allows two of the members to go abroad. Another factor may have been the availability of declaration of intent forms online.