Candidates running for a seat on Student Government have until tomorrow to turn in applications, but campaigning has already begun.
There are 12 voting senator positions, three senior senators, the vice president and president, and multiple Funds Allotment Council positions open on the ballot.
FAC is not a part of Student Government, but because they are both fee-based organizations, they are appearing on the same ballot.
Hannah Wissler, Student Government election administrator, said election filings are going well and there were about 12 candidate packets out as of Tuesday.
As of Tuesday, there was only one president/vice president ticket that had been filed.
“I would definitely say some of the success of last spring’s election was the fact that we had three presidential tickets on there, we had 13 senators campaigning for 12 spots, and no one wanted to be that one person [not elected],” Wissler said.
She said she is hoping for high voter turnout in this election, but the organization has a lower budget for advertising this year and found it harder to generate involvement without this semester’s activities fair.
“Our PR director has been doing an awesome job publicizing things on social media, and our posters are up and around, so we’re hoping that’s enough to get people to turn out,” Wissler said. “Then all of the candidates are campaigning, so that will help get the word out, too.”
She said there are enough eligible people to fill all the open positions, so that is the goal. If students are concerned about what is happening on campus, Wissler said it is important to vote and get involved with Student Government.
Voting will be done completely online, and polls open Monday, April 15 and close Thursday, April 18. The results will be announced on The Mall outside the Student Union Building the same day polls close.
Wissler said the past two elections conducted by Student Government were contested, which means involvement in the organization seems to be on the rise. Additionally, there are a number of new associate members of Student Government this year, which means they were appointed, but some are running for election this time around.