The Students’ Association is preparing for its upcoming officer elections with the current president and vice president running unopposed.
“I am pretty disappointed that Beau (Carter) and I are running unopposed,” said Caleb Orr, who is running for SA vice president. “I think that competitive election is a sign of a healthy democracy, because it means that lots of individuals have competitive visions for what they want the government to do.”
The next step for SA elections will be a debate night. The debate will be at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Moody Coliseum. Voting will then be from 11:30 a.m. Wednesday to 5 p.m. Thursday.
“I would love for there to be more candidates so that candidates have the opportunity to debate and refine each other through the debate and speech process,” said Beau Carter, SA president.
The petitions for SA officer candidacy were turned in at 5 p.m. Friday, and campaigning for office officially began at 8 a.m. Monday.
Both the current SA president and vice president were approved for candidacy along with three other students who are running for treasurer. Executive officers are approved for candidacy by the elections chair and then participate in debates and speeches in front of the student body.
“It’s exceedingly important for you to get your message out there in order for your vision to be powerful,” said Orr, sophomore political science major from McKinney. “You’ve got to get the students to know what it’s about.”
Efforts by SA to spread the word about elections have been varied in the past, but with the electronic voting site vote.acu.edu founded by former SA President Dylan Benac, voting among students has increased.
“Last spring and this past fall, we have seen about a 10 to 15 percent increase in the number of students voting and look forward to even more involvement this next week,” said Carter, junior political science major from Farmers Branch.
Carter encourages students interested in pursuing roles in student government to go to the SA office and talk about getting involved.
“Be ready for fall elections, which will be starting up as soon as we get back to school in August,” he added.
