Originally expecting a large turnout for student government applications, student leaders are still hopeful for an intense campaign despite the disappointment of receiving less than half of the response they intended.

The Associated Students of the University of Arizona election commission received 33 applications for all four elected positions, a little more than half of the applications that were picked up.

"I followed up with each person who picked up an application to see if I could help them with anything and answer any questions" said Adam Falck, ASUA election commissioner. "Only about half of them came through."

However, 33 applications is five more than ASUA received last year, and there were enough applicants by the original deadline, Falck said.

Last year there was not enough student interest in the election, so ASUA had to extend the deadline so there would be enough applicants to fill each position.

Falck said the number of applicants this year shows there is more of an interest in ASUA, and there should be enough candidates for a spirited campaign.

ASUA President Alistair Chapman said members of the election commission are working with the registrar until Saturday to review each application carefully and verify the hundreds of signatures of students who nominated them.

The number of student signatures totals 11,000, Falck said.

After reviewing the applications, the election commission will inform applicants of their eligibility on Saturday. A mandatory meeting for all candidates will be on Sunday at 1 p.m.

Falck will be joined at the meeting by Ben Graff, a non-voting student regent, who was ASUA president from 2000 to 2001. Chapman and other ASUA officials will also attend the meeting.

Graff and Falck will help provide a framework for candidates to run their campaign, and educate them about the guidelines in the election code, Falck said.

Josh Shapiro, an economics senior who ran for ASUA president last year, is not running this year but said there will be enough qualified candidates who will have to build upon achievements last year.

"Whoever becomes president will have some very tough shoes to fill."

Shapiro said he hopes the achievements ASUA made this year, including the prospective of bringing popular entertainers to campus, will cause students to pay more attention to this year's election.

"I also hope they've fixed some of the problems from last year and there will be a fair, clean campaign," Shapiro said.

Last year, many problems came up with campaigning violations as well as having a deficiency of applicants.

Learning from those difficulties, ASUA leaders made changes in the election code last semester to make the election run more smoothly and to attract better voter turnout, Falck said.

One change made from last year was the campaign spending-cap for presidential candidates, which was increased to $370 this year. The cap remained at $300 for seven years, Falck said.

The spending cap, which is $1,000 to $10,000 at other universities, prevents a candidate with resources to money to sway the campaign unfairly, Falck said.

To get a better voter turnout, Falck said he hopes ASUA can place more voting booths around campus to make voting more convenient for students, Falck said.

UA students can use their student ID number to vote from any computer, but voting booths might help increase the usual 10 percent turnout, Falck said.

Falck said he hopes candidates will not resort to unfair behavior.

"Generally, you can expect the new pool of candidates to be better than last year's, and I think that will be the case for this election," Falck said.

Campaigning will begin Feb. 14 and will continue until the primary election on March 1 and 2. The general election will be March 8 and 9 for all four positions – president, executive vice president, administrative vice president and senator.

Falck said he wants to guide candidates to campaign effectively and see them bring intensity and devotion to their platforms to present feasible ideas.

"I want to change the face of the campus (during the campaign) and get energy charged into the voters," Falck said.