CORRECTION: The original version of this article included an error in the headline. Elon News Network regrets this error.
This year’s Student Government Association elections bring changes to the process, including the addition of an executive vice president role, expanding the executive positions to five. Forty total candidates are running — an increase from recent years.
The positions of vice president of finance and vice president of communications are not decided by the student body but instead are appointed through an interview process and confirmed by a Senate vote. These roles require specific skills, making the selection process more rigorous according to senior class president and chair of elections, Alexander Siler.
Historically, voter turnout has been low. To address this issue, the SGA has increased outreach efforts, using social media campaigns, campus-wide events and measures such as the Phoenix Five Weekly email to raise awareness.
Vice President of Communications Ella Kucera said student awareness of elections varies, with some students informed and others possibly forgetting. She suggested that overall engagement depends on factors such as class year and students' connection to their peers.
“I think either students are aware of it, or they're not, or maybe it slips their minds. I feel like in the fall, there was a pretty decent amount of voter turnout for the freshman elections. So I think it just kind of depends on the classes’ connection to their peers,” Kucera said.
This year has seen a rise in candidate participation, with 40 students running for various positions including two people running for Executive President, juniors Anya Bratic and Nic Fillippa. Last year, no one initially ran for executive president, leading to SGA extending the application. However, some positions still remain without candidates and Siler believes it’s a matter of awareness.
“It’s good to see a high turnout, In the past, we haven’t always had many contested positions,” Siler said. “Sometimes it's just a matter of people aren't necessarily aware that they're open positions. So it's more an issue of finding people who want to run for them.”
Kucera said students often seek class senator positions and are appointed to other roles if those are filled.
“It also comes from a lot of people wanting a class senator position, and then if that gets filled, they don't get voted on to that, they'll just be appointed to something else later,” Kucera said. “We saw that a lot in the fall elections with the freshmen.”
Freshmen Kemari Logan and Savannah Hameed, who are running for School of Communications senators, said they are highly motivated to run in this election.
“I'm a communications fellow, and I would love to give back to the school that has made a way for me on this campus,” Hameed said.
Logan expressed his goal of being a voice for the School of Communications and how his background motivates him to run for a position.
“I went to a mostly Black high school, so coming to Elon and then seeing most of the clubs being full of not as much diversity inspires me to try to be active,” Logan said.
Lizeth Torres-Tomas, a candidate for the class of 2027 senator, said she decided to run after talking to other members of SGA.
"I was urged by other candidates in SGA who believed I was a good fit," Torres-Tomas said. "I wanted to become more involved in the Elon community and listen to students’ voices."
Candidates must meet specific requirements before running for positions, including GPA thresholds and, for certain seats, affiliation with specific academic schools. Campaigning will follow strict guidelines: candidates can distribute flyers, post on social media and spread the word through GroupMe chats or personal conversations. However, mass emails and messages via Moodle or class-wide communication platforms are not allowed.
Candidates are also limited to spending a maximum of $50 on their campaigns, and endorsements from SGA members or the use of SGA logos are not allowed. Campaign violations can be reported directly to the Elections Committee, which will handle complaints seriously according to Siler.
The elections will be held on PhoenixConnect on March 10 through 11. Campaign speeches, though optional, will be recorded and shared on the SGA YouTube account.