Early this week, Student Government Elections Commission Chairman Luis Goberna worried about the low number of students registered to run for positions available in the upcoming elections. Now registration has closed with every open seat contested.
Goberna, a junior, said the last two days of the registration process had multiple candidates submitting documents to run, including another “full ticket” for the executive titles. The president, vice president and treasurer positions are all up for vote this upcoming election.
Registration closed 5 p.m. Jan. 30.
As of Jan. 29, only one ticket had registered. By the morning of Jan. 30, the second ticket had registered.
All the Senate seats available also saw an uptick in students interested in claiming positions inside the chamber.
There are a total of eight seats up for election. The Business School, School of Communication and Transfer seats each have one position available but more than one candidate running. The Business School seat, one of the most coveted, has six people running.
“We tend to see Business School students get really excited about Student Government elections,” Goberna said.
Current Student Government President Adrian Nuñez is a double major in management and political science, and Treasurer Emily Bajalia is a marketing major.
Three students are running for the two available College of Arts and Sciences seats while three students are running for the three Commuter seats.
Now that registration is over, the candidates will focus on the upcoming elections and garnering votes from their constituents. Goberna said voters should keep “eyes open” for opportunities to meet with candidates.
“You definitely want to meet your candidates in person to see if there are any questions that you have unanswered on their platform statements,” Goberna said.
Candidates will be announced at 8 a.m. Feb. 5 when graphic campaigning starts. Campaigns will continue until elections end Feb.14. Voting opens Feb. 12, and results will be announced at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 15 at the Lakeside Patio.
Students with questions about the upcoming Student Government elections can contact Goberna at sgelections@miami.edu.
Featured photo is a file photo from The Miami Hurricane.