Campaign season starting on campus

February 28 will mark the beginning of “Elections Week,” an event showcasing the candidates running for various representative offices at UConn.

This semester, Undergraduate Student Government, Graduate Student Senate, Undergraduate Student Representative to the Board of Trustees, Co-op Board of Directors, and Student Director for the UConn Foundation Board will all be holding races.

Next Thursday, the verified candidates will convene in the Student Union’s North Lobby for a debate. Candidates will also put their best election foot forward by handing out fliers, running advertisements, and showcasing their policies before voting begins on March 7.

USG will be holding the largest election: president and vice president, comptroller, and 30 open senate seats.

The official candidates are posted on the elections.uconn.edu website, but students still have the opportunity to campaign as write-in candidates. Shiv Gandhi, the speaker of the USG Senate and candidate for USG President, said this is a common way people win elections.

“Even now we have a lot of vacant senate seats,” Gandhi said. “If nobody runs, the seats stay empty.”

Vacant USG Senate seats are not uncommon, and this semester does not seem to be attracting many more candidates. For example, there are 11 vacant seats representing the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, but only eight candidates have been officially declared.

Voting begins on March 7 at 9 a.m. and ends at 5 p.m. on March 11.