Candidates for SGA office started their campaigning Thursday morning to prepare for voting, which starts Friday and ends Monday. Students will receive an email directing them to where they can vote for their class senators and officers, SGA officers say.

One president, one vice president, one multicultural representative and ten senators will be elected to represent each class. Athena Triantopoulos, SGA vice president, said SGA will announce the elected candidates on Tuesday after Chapel.

“I would just say don’t look at it as a popularity contest. Don’t vote for just the person that you know, vote for who you think is truly going to do the job well and represent everyone,” said Triantopoulos, senior advertising and public relations major from Las Vegas.

SGA President Josh Springer said it is important for students to vote. 

“Making sure that you are paying attention to who you are electing and using them as a resource is really important,” said Springer, senior financial management major from Helotes.

It is common for many students to run for SGA during their freshman year, but as the classification progresses, the elections become less competitive. Josh Hamm, the former class of 2027 president who is running again as a sophomore, said last year was more competitive than this year’s elections. 

“Vote for people who are willing to get out there and who are doing it because they care about us as a student body and not about any resumé-building or anything like that,” said Hamm, sophomore biology major from Double Oak.

After the elections, SGA will host its annual budget meeting at 5 p.m. on Wednesday in the Hunter Welcome Center. This year, over $31,000 will be distributed to student organizations for the fall semester. Also, SGA senators will meet from Sept. 27-29 at Lake Brownwood for a retreat. Springer said this will be a time for the senators to learn more about what a senate is and what they do.