The Associated Students, Inc. election candidates are hoping to reach a wider spectrum of students by splitting into teams during the campaign period.

“We want to reach every single person,” said Abraham Mendoza III, vice president of academic affairs candidate for the AMPLIFY team.

Two major platforms, AMPLIFY and INSPIRE, have emerged on campus donning their purple and red shirts with logos. During the elections, candidates have the option of campaigning as a slate or as an individual. In this year’s election, all but three candidates are campaigning as part of team AMPLIFY or INSPIRE.

Team AMPLIFY is a mix of four current ASI board members and students running for the first time for their positions, while INSPIRE consists of all new faces hoping to take a seat on the ASI board starting fall of 2016.

Being part of a slate does not guarantee that all the candidates will win the positions they are seeking for as a team, but there are advantages to campaigning as one platform.

“Campaign elections are difficult… It’s really hard to run as an individual. I think aligning yourself with a team of people who have those networking abilities make it easier for students to get across the message,” said Kevin Robles, director of business candidate for INSPIRE. “It makes your voice louder, so you can reach more people.”

The biggest benefit is the support candidates receive from each other, according to Kylee Homecillo, executive vice president candidate for AMPLIFY.

“Elections can be very stressful, intimidating and scary, if you go into it alone,” Homecillo said.

Despite the friendly competition between the platforms, it is a common strategy candidates have used to mobilize their supporters and to get more students to participate.

“Be receptive to everyone that is around you. We don’t want the campus to be divided by color or by one organization versus the next,” Mendoza said. “If you see someone wearing purple, if you see someone wearing red, don’t automatically assume ‘This is my friend. These are the people that I’m affiliated with.’ We want everyone to realize that at the end of the day we are all just students and we’re all ultimately trying to get [students] involved.”

The candidates will continue making visits to organizations, attending candidate forums, and meeting with students around campus in the upcoming weeks until voting day, which takes place April 19-21.