By The Editors

Elections for Student Government Association (SGA) president and vice president will be held on April 20 and 21. While student voters are expected to turn out in record numbers, it is important to know who you are voting for and what issues your candidates represent.

The elections committee, which consists of members from on-campus organizations other than SGA, needs to reevaluate their policies.

For a candidate’s name to appear on the ballot, they must first collect 780 student signatures. Not until these signatures are collected, can a hopeful president and vice-president pair explain their views to the student body. In the case of this year’s election, there are three tickets that needed 780 signatures each. The total voter turnout for last year’s election was 805 students. Thousands of students are signing petitions for candidates they know nothing about and after signing these sheets, more than half of them are not even turning out to vote.

There two parts to this obtuse process. First, almost three times as many students are “voting” in the preliminary election process. Second, they know almost nothing about what they’re voting for because SGA won’t let them.

One town hall meeting or forum allowing potential candidates to briefly address the student body prior to asking for signatures would be more appropriate so students know who they are endorsing. SGA says candidates can’t begin campaigning until a specified date, which is after the collection of signatures.

Another flaw in this year’s election process was the punishment of two candidates from the same ticket. The ticket, which included one president and one vice-presidential candidate, was accused of campaigning too early, before 780 student signatures were collected. They were severely penalized and now the pair cannot campaign until four days before the election. The SGA election commission isn’t to enforce the rules, but the student body is bearing the brunt of the punishment. Allowing a candidate to campaign only four days before the election means they are inhibiting the student body’s ability to make a careful and balanced judgment.