As University of Wisconsin students Ashok Kumar and David Lapidus campaign for the District 5 seat on the Dane County Board, both believe the student vote will be influential in Tuesday's election.

According to both candidates, voting in the election is important because the Dane County Board will deal with issues that directly affect students.

"People are affected by local issues way more than national issues on a day-to-day basis," Kumar, a junior, said.

The race for the District 5 seat is one of the most contentious this April, as a February primary election filtered four student candidates down to the current two.

According to Lapidus, the two remaining candidates hold opposing philosophies.

As a self-proclaimed non-partisan candidate, Lapidus, a freshman, said the issues he is concerned with affect the student-populated district, including:

Public safety
Cost-effective public transportation
Overcrowding of jails
Balancing zoning laws with environmental protection
Improving tenant's rights

While the two differ in ideologies, many of Kumar's main concerns are also similar to those of Lapidus:

Effective public transportation
Inequalities in the criminal justice system
Encouraging affordable housing
Assurance of tenants’ rights
Keeping "big box" retailers out of the city

Concerning the incarceration system, Lapidus said if elected he would work to lower penalties for those with marijuana-related offenses.

"What I want to do is to make penalties as low as possible," he said. "I want jail time [for these offenses to be] non-existent."

In Kumar's view, the problem with the jail system lies within the racial inequalities regarding incarceration and claimed injustices are made between racial and socio-economic classes.

"We should be fighting inequalities in the criminal justice system," he noted. "We should be creating education programs that actually help them and help them recover."

Kumar said students should know the role of the Dane County Board because of its significance in many local issues.

"Two local positions that affect students are the City Council and Dane County Board," he said. "They deal with so many issues, from the water [we] drink, to the way [we] get to work; [from] safety on campus, to some budget policy."

In addition to such student-related issues, Kumar said the Dane County Board has power over issues that affect the whole city of Madison as well.

These issues, Kumar said, include keeping Lake Mendota and Lake Monona clean as well as improving public transportation, which affects all Madison residents traveling in the area.

On a citywide basis, Lapidus said the Dane County Board's power over zoning issues could affect all Madison residents.

"With zoning laws, we need to make sure there is growth," he said. "But at the same time, we have to be protecting environmental resources."

Both candidates said their campaigning efforts have increased since the primary elections ended in February, and both hope students will turn out to vote Tuesday.

"I hope that all the hard work pays off," Lapidus said. "But whether [students] vote depends on a lot of factors like the weather or how many midterms they have."

While Lapidus is only a freshman, he believes students will vote based on the candidates' stances on the issues rather than their experience.

But Kumar said, as a junior, he has gained more experience with the student body, and he hopes the voting turnout will be significant.

"If [students] don't vote in elections, why vote at all, and why live in a democratic society?" he asked.