Were international observers to oversee the upcoming A.S. special election, they would surely not proclaim it to be “free and fair.” Fortunately, there is still time to fix the flaws.

In the end, it comes down to money — and the A.S. Council’s willingness to fund a true exercise in democracy. Earlier this year, the council squandered a windfall of nearly $200,000 without putting any of it away for a rainy day. Now, with the storm here, there is no money to pay for polling stations, a sample ballot or other necessities.

And in this election, these things really matter. Backers of Student-Run Television regulations, including a majority of the A.S. Council, can win in two ways: by convincing students to vote “no” or by simply depressing voter turnout below the 15-percent threshold necessary to make the election valid.

There is no doubt that the cost-cutting measures approved unsurprisingly by the A.S. Council will hurt turnout. Those who collected signatures to put the SRTV porn ban up for a vote, of course, hold the primary responsibility of rallying students around the election; however, they cannot be asked to make up for what are, in effect, obstruction tactics.

So what can be done? First, the council can simply reverse its earlier funding increases to the student organizations, and find the funds that way. Alternatively, it can tap the reserves, set aside for just such unexpected expenditures; the latter option, however, would require three-fourths of the councilmembers to vote in favor of fair elections.

Something must be done. As the world has seen in recent nation-building experiments, democracy cannot be had on the cheap.