Polls open online this morning at 8 a.m. for the Associated Students of Madison spring election.

The entire student council is up for election, along with three seats on the Student Services Finance Committee. Polls will remain open until 8 p.m. Thursday.

"ASM and especially Student Council and SSFC are the main voices of shared governance on this campus," Student Election Commission Chair Leah Moe said. "They control close to $2 million in student money. The more people vote the more they can advocate for students' rights."

Students will also decide whether or not to continue their contract with the United Council of UW Students, a lobbying organization made up of 20 UW System schools. Moe said the referendum is renewed every two years.

The SEC decided to use paper ballots during last fall's election after a major election snafu last spring, when the election results were invalidated due to technical problems.

Moe said she is confident the online system has been improved since last year and will be successful this year.

"We've gone through extensive testing," Moe said. "We've also used an outside contractor this year."

SEC representative Polly Pfeiffer said the election should run smoothly, and students should vote because of their unique opportunity to be involved in the shared governance process.

"I hope that it will all go well, and we can maintain the integrity of the election system," Pfeiffer said. "I think every student should take an interest in ASM because of the money. There is a law that students should be involved in the governing in their school, so it's up to the student to take advantage."

With the improved online system, ASM representatives are expecting a higher voter turnout than the 6.59 percent in last fall's paper balloting.

Moe said the turnout has traditionally been between 10 and 15 percent of the student body. However, the turnout reached nearly 22 percent last spring before the malfunction in the system.

"Expectations are high for a glitch-free election," ASM Student Council Chair Dylan Rath said. "I think the electronic election will create a much higher turnout because of its convenience for students, there are also stronger write-in candidates."

Rath added students could access candidate profiles on asm.wisc.edu, where students should also cast their ballots.