Campaigning for the Undergraduate Student Government president and vice president will cost some of the candidates close to $700.

Fair market value, a term being thrown around behind the scenes of the campaigns, has taken on different meanings throughout the campaign and could take on yet another one.

Fair market value set the standard for the price of the items that candidates use in their campaigns.

Flyers, for example, were placed at 5 cents each with or without a receipt.

That means that if a candidate found flyers for 2 cents each and had an accompanying receipt, they were still charged the full 5 cents.

Wednesday night, one presidential ticket challenged the rule by taking the issue to the USG Supreme Court.

"I thought the commission wasn't following the (election) code," said Justin Zartman, USG presidential candidate.

They won.

Now if a candidate gets an item such as a flyer, at a lower price than fair market value, and has a receipt for proof, they will only be charged the receipt price.

Special prosecutor for the elections commission Erik Ives appealed the decision yesterday.

The USG elections commission set the presidential and vice presidential spending cap at $700 for their campaigns.

If the candidates spend more than that amount of money, they could be punished. The $700 limit is enforced to make the campaigns fair for all candidates.

Robert Michaels said he has only spent about $250 on his campaign with running mate Claudia Lum. "We're saving our money for Wednesday," Michaels said.

Michaels said he and Claudia have a surprise planned for Election Day that should draw people's attention.

Most candidates use their own money to buy flyers, T-shirts and other campaigning needs.

Presidential Candidate John Linde said in reference to their campaign spending, "It's mine and Nate's (money). I don't see why it should be anyone else's."

Most candidates gave the same reasons of using their own money.

"We intend to spend as much as we can to get our names out, our platforms out to students," said Presidential Candidate Justin Zartman.

Getting their names out to students is the main goal for most of the candidates in the race.

Vice Presidential Candidate Sushil Nanavati said, "Our intentions are to spend enough to get the word out about our campaign."

Nanavati said they have used some campaign money to buy pens with their names on them, which has been a good way to keep their ticket visible.

Lollipops have also been popular with students, he added.

Nanavati said that he and Presidential Candidate Matt Rokita had summer jobs to help pay for the costs of their campaign expenditures.

Presidential Candidate Katelyn Belyus and her running mate Tom Murtaugh handed out chocolate gold coins and flyers the size of dollar bills supporting their campaign for a USG-run used textbook swap and it also encouraged voting.

Some candidates are trying to keep campaign costs low.

Presidential Candidate Terry Burke said, "Ben and I are trying not to spend too much."