The Fall 2022 Student Body Elections for the Student Government Association, or SGA, will be held from Sept. 29 at 9 a.m. to Sept. 30 at 12 p.m. Online voting will be available to students via the election website at vote.tamu.edu.
According to the SGA Election Commission, the vacant student government positions are as follows:
Freshman Class President
College of Education and Human Development, 1 senator
College of Engineering, 2 senators
College of Arts & Sciences – Liberal Arts Caucus, 2 senators
College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, 1 senator
College of Arts & Sciences – Geosciences Caucus, 1 senator
On-Campus Residencies, 2 senators
Off-Campus Residencies, 7 senators
Freshman Caucus, 2 senators
While the online election is active, students will be able to vote for candidates. According to the SGA Election Commission website, unofficial results will be announced at the 12th Man Statue on Sept. 30, no earlier than 7 p.m. The official certified results will be announced approximately one day after voting ends, according to the Texas A&M Online Student Elections platform.
The SGA Election Commission has released the Candidates Guide, a comprehensive list of all of the candidates for the positions. Each candidate is pictured with a bullet-point list of their campaign platforms, along with a brief introduction. The Fall 2022 Candidates Guide is available online on the Election Commission’s website.
According to the SGA’s mission statement, they are committed to serving A&M by “representing student opinion, addressing campus needs through targeted programs and maintenance of tradition, and providing opportunities for leadership development in order to enrich the quality of student life.”
However, the student body elections have had historically low voter turnout. According to the Fall 2021 Election results, only 2,195 ballots were cast.
Freshman Caucus candidate James Riley Pritzlaff is campaigning to represent the freshman class in the Student Senate. In an interview, Pritzlaff said he wants to represent the ideas, needs and desires of freshmen to make meaningful change in the Student Senate.
“We want voter turnout to be as high as possible. Democracy doesn’t work if we don’t have people voting,” Pritzlaff said. “The higher the turnout, the more reflective of what it’s going to be of the needs and wants of the people voting. Right now, we have very low satisfaction.”
Pritzlaff encouraged all students to vote while the election is active.
“Having more people vote, higher participation, higher engagement is going to hold lawmakers accountable,” Pritzlaff said. “If you [don’t] vote, you have less say in that. Make your voice heard. Having that engagement is hugely important in a democracy.”
Freshman Class President and Off-Campus Caucus candidate Manan Khandelwal is campaigning to build class unity in a way that has never been seen before. Khandelwal wants to unite the study body. He said that on such a big campus, it can be hard to find your place.
However, Khandelwal said that voter turnout is low, and he was interested in trying to increase turnout.
“My main focus is to get them to vote in the first place and focus on campaigning for myself later. We don’t have a lot of students who vote,” Khandelwal said. “I want to focus on increasing the voter turnout so we have as many opinions as possible. Not just for me, but for any candidate.”
Khandelwal encouraged students to research the candidates and their platforms before the election opens. He said that all students should make educated decisions while voting.
“If one candidate is promising something that seems unrealistic, don’t go for it,” Khandelwal said. “With such a small voter turnout, every single vote matters. It really matters for every single student to make a decision for themselves and what they want [their representative] to stand for and serve them.”
