Theta Chi fraternity member Erik Duckworth was quoted in the State Hornet last week saying he was being paid to vote in this week’s ASI elections.

But his fraternity will actually be receiving the money due to an ASI program that offers financial incentives to clubs whose members vote.

Duckworth’s fraternity is one of the 33 clubs that have applied for funding in this election.

“No one is paying Erik Duckworth to vote,” said Eric Gwohey, President of Theta Chi Fraternity. “He’s simply voting on the club ballot to give his organization money.”

In an attempt to increase student voter turnout, ASI created the Club Life University Ballot revenue policy in 1996, which pays $2 per vote cast to clubs that have registered for the ballot in advance.

“Voter turnout is horribly low and I’m disappointed more students do not vote,” Vice President of Finance Peter Ucovich said.

Student clubs and organizations could be paid as much as $1,500 per club by voting in this week’s ASI elections. At $2 per vote, 750 votes would bring a registered club to ASI’s CLUB ballot maximum.

Clubs earned $5,126 in last year’s election, though not all the clubs claimed their money. The club’s proceeds must be claimed within one fiscal year of the election.

Of the 250 clubs on campus, only 27 clubs received CLUB funding after last year’s election. Thirty-three clubs have applied for funding this year.

In the 2003 budget, funding for the CLUB ballot policy comes out of Campus Life funds. ASI leadership funds, the Multi-cultural Center, the Women’s Resource Center, Sacramento State athletics clubs and Union-related programs all compete for funding with a line item called Dollars for Organizations and Clubs and Student Education and Leadership (DOC/SEL).

In total, ASI received $1.8 million from the $109 student fee charged to each student’s tuition. Approximately $10 out of the $109 ASI fee goes into this DOC/SEL account. Of the $200,000 in the DOC/SEL account, four separate accounts feed from this line item. Approximately $4,000-$4,500 is allotted to fund the CLUB revenue policy, Director of ASI Patricia Worley said.

The club needs to be recognized by the Student Activities Office to receive funding.

“To be eligible for a grant all that is necessary is for the club president to get the appropriate signatures and submit the application 30 days before the election, to attain good standing for their club,” Board Associate Rita Tyk said.

Out of the 26,440 students on campus, 3,471 students voted in the 2002 election.

That is a 13 percent voter turnout. Thirteen percent turnout is about the average of other CSU campuses, ASI President Eric Guerra said.

“We (ASI) would be in trouble if everyone at Sac State voted in the election and checked off a club on the ballot, because there is not enough (money) allotted in ASI’s budget to fund an abnormally high voter turnout,” Guerra said.

Ucovich is part of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, a student organization on the list of participating clubs registered for CLUB funding in this election.

ASI sends applications for the CLUB eligibility to every campus club’s mailbox and places ads in the State Hornet to make organizations aware that the funds are available. It also runs announcements on the radio station KSSU and posts fliers in the University Union.

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