As elections for the student trustee approach, brightly colored flyers with slogans promoting the candidates for the election are covering bulletin boards and the sidewalks are chalked with names for campaigns.

But with limited space for candidates to get their names out, sometimes innocent campaigning can take a turn for the worse.

“It’s a poorly kept secret that there’s a lot of tearing down of signs,” said current student trustee Paul Schmitt.

With at least seven students campaigning for the trustee position this year, some of the campaigns have already experienced trouble with their signs being torn down.

“I have certainly noticed that a very large quantity of my flyers have been ripped down and replaced with another candidates,” said Matt Reschke junior and trustee candidate. “My white flyers become green, and those around mine also disappear.”

Another candidate, Dan Weber, a sophomore in LAS, said that someone had poured water over his name that was chalked on the sidewalk to smear the message.

“It was really disheartening, we had just spent all night chalking,” Weber said. “In the morning it washed away and my a lot of my fliers had been torn down.”

While most candidates acknowledge that signs being torn down is just something that goes with the territory, Declan Holzman, campaign manager for trustee candidate Chris Cox, is concerned that due to the large number of Cox’s signs that were torn down, it is something more serious.

“If someone is taking the time to take down signs they must have an agenda against us,” Holzman said.

“This is an election and everyone wants to get their name out, let us at least be out there.”

Mike Wilson, chairman of the Student Election Commission, said that the complaints the commission has received so far this year have mostly been involving water being poured on the chalked sidewalk, signs being torn down and signs being hung in classrooms.

He said the SEC decided this year to interpret the student code so that candidates are not allowed to hang their signs in classroom buildings; they are restricted to the public bulletin boards.

“We expanded the interpretation for two reasons,” Wilson said.

“The first was to reduce trouble with (campaigns) fighting, and second, we had a number of complaints from professors about signs in classrooms.”

The commission can fine candidates up to $150 per each offense, and he said one candidate in this election has already been fined for having his signs in classrooms, but did not name which candidate.

Schmitt said dirty campaigning practices are typically not limited to campaigns, but usually extends to third parties.

Wilson said candidates are responsible for the actions of anyone working for the campaign, but third parties are harder to track.

Candidate Roberto Martell, a junior in LAS and president of Students for Chief Illiniewk has been accused of dirty campaign practices, but said the allegations are false.

“I personally have not been participating in any dirty campaigning,” Martell said.

“I only put my signs were there’s space, I run a clean campaign.”

As a breath of fresh air, there are still candidates who say they have not experienced any significant dirty campaigning.

Marty St. Aubin, junior in ACES, and Chris Chung, junior in LAS, both said they think the campaigning has been pretty civil thus far, and while both have had some signs torn down in the past, it has not been significant.

“If it happens it happens, but I think it would be sad if people resorted to that,” Chung said.