Elections for Syracuse University’s Student Association will start this semester on April 9 and run until April 12, a week earlier than last year’s election.

SU students will be able to vote on MySlice for SA’s next president, vice president and comptroller, as well as assembly representatives. SA plans to officially announce the election dates this Friday.  

Initially, SA’s Board of Elections and Membership committee chose April 2 as the beginning of elections, but President James Franco and Vice President Angie Pati decided that date was too early, Pati said. Pati said campaigning is hard and candidates need to be able to reach out to people and connect with their bases. An April 2 start date would be too short of a time frame for candidates to do that, she said.

Last year’s elections started on Monday, April 18 and ended at midnight on Thursday of the same week.

This year’s earlier election date will help facilitate “a smooth transition in general” between the two legislative sessions, Pati said.

SA wants to ensure longevity for the programs and initiatives created this year, Pati added. Giving newly appointed members more time to be involved with SA before summer begins may help with that goal, she said.

Members work throughout the summer in preparation for the next academic year, so it’s beneficial to start those efforts as soon as possible, Pati added.

“The date lets the new members to form a relationship with the assembly before next year begins,” she said.

April 9 was also chosen because it was far enough away from the last weeks of the semester so candidates could campaign, talk with students and meet with current SA members without added academic pressure, said Evanna Ojeda, an SA assembly member who serves on the BEM committee.

It allows candidates to “promote awareness of this election cycle without having to deal with outside factors,” she added.

Petitions to run for office are due on Friday. Candidates must receive a minimum of 500 signatures from SU’s undergraduates to run.

Once the petitions are submitted, the BEM committee will use spring break to review the applications for approval, Ojeda said.

Ojeda said the April 9 start date will give BEM members enough time to make sure candidates are aware of the rules and regulations that are in place for SA elections.

She added that BEM has not been made aware of any complaints or concerns from the student body or other SA members about moving elections to a week earlier in the spring semester.

“If there are concerns, we are more than willing to have that conversation,” she added.

Published on March 6, 2018 at 8:10 pm

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