Elections easy way to make voice heard

After a week of meeting constituents, sending Facebook invitations, hanging banners around campus and passing out flyers, candidates for Student Government (SG) senate are ready to hear what students have to say.

This week, SG elections will be held in the UC Breezeway, Monday through Wednesday. Students will be able to vote for who they think will best represent their class, residential house and school, for SG’s 27 open senate seats.

The ballots will consist of the candidates’ names with a short description of who they are and what issues they stand for, as well a referendum: whether or not to increase student government funding.

SG press secretary and referendum creator Ryan Aquilina is asking all voters to mark “yes” on the referendum in order to better serve the student population by generating more money to fund student events and cosponsor student organizations.

According to Aquilina, voting for Student Government is an important part of the year that is easy to get involved in.

“Voters basically just have to show up, and the voting process only takes about five minutes of their time,” Aquilina said.

Running for candidacy is just as easy. Students interested in running for a position in student government simply need to submit an application and attend every weekly Student Government meeting, for the semester they wish to run.

SG elections committee chair Fernanda Sanchez insisted that no prior experience is necessary.

“You gain experience [by participating]. Everyone interested should try it at least once in college,” Sanchez said.

The results of this semester’s election will be announced on Wednesday at 5 p.m. in the Rathskellar.

Niloufar Abae may be contacted at nabae@themiamihurricane.com.