Hopeful candidates for positions including student body president, student senator and yell leader have till 3 p.m. Tuesday to file for consideration.
Student Government Association election commissioner Emma Douglas said there was an exceptional response from students interested in running for office in the fall, but she expects the spring elections to be much larger.
“The fall elections are a much smaller scale, meant to fill vacancies and find representatives for the freshmen,” Douglas said. “Spring elections span the entire month of February, simply because the size of the spring elections is about four or five times that of the fall.”
Student Senate speaker Hannah Weger said SGA expects a large number of younger students to file for candidacy due to recruiting tactics implemented as far back as the summer.
“The number of people running will be a lot higher, especially with the younger group,” Weger said. “[Student Body President] Kyle Kelly and I spoke at every single Fish Camp session about the election process and running for office, and we got tons and tons of positive feedback.”
Douglas said students interested must pay a small filing fee, attend a mandatory meeting where all their questions should be answered and turn in an expense report for their campaign. After that, much is left to the individual students to figure out how to get their names out there.
“It is up to them how many opportunities they take advantage of to gain votes and reach out to their constituents,” Douglas said. “Ultimately, each candidate must take full advantage of each opportunity provided to ensure the necessary votes to gain their intended office.”
A meet-and-greet will be held from 4-5:30 p.m. Feb. 15 in the MSC and will be followed by a student body president debate at 6 p.m. in the MSC Flag Room. After the event, candidates will be allowed to run their general campaign with flyers, banners, T-shirts and more.
Student Senate speaker pro tempore Brandon Clingman said candidates have already begun their campaigning process with social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
“I would expect a lot of invitations to Facebook groups,” Clingman said. “Senators have found that the best way to run is getting their name out there in as many ways as possible. The goal isn’t really to have an active page, but to keep their name in people’s minds.”
Clingman said the student body should make their voice heard during the voting period on Feb. 19 and 20.
“There are so many things that go on on campus that people care about,” Clingman said. “It’s almost like we hear more uproar in those times than we do during an election. If we have people who are truly representing the students and who a majority truly want in there, then we will have a much more successful student government.”
Douglas said the importance of who is chosen to fill these positions cannot be understated.
“These are the people that will represent student interest in the 2015-2016 school year,” Douglas said. “I highly encourage every student to get involved by getting to know who their potential representatives are and voting for the best when voting opens.”