With elections just around the corner, prospective Student Government presidential and vice presidential candidates should be considering their tickets, platforms and deadlines.
Students running for president or vice president are required to run together, and they have the option of adding other students to their tickets. Current SG president Stewart Lockett and vice president Rachel Campbell listed students representing 13 senior colleges on their ticket in Spring 2018, most of whom were senators or college council members.
Once the president and vice president get elected, they appoint students to fill executive positions. Students who were on their ticket are often appointed, but leaders can appoint students who have never campaigned with or supported them.
Creating initiatives allows candidates to show other students what issues they care about and what their plans are to improve campus. Lockett said candidates do not have to include initiatives as part of their campaigns, but he encourages them to do so.
“Have concrete initiatives [and] have a good team,” Lockett said.
Any students can run for president or vice president, even if they are not current SG members. Lockett said students should not feel discouraged from running.
“Anyone who wants to enact change and feel that they could change the culture of campus and the student body should run,” Lockett said.
Ticket name registration will be on Feb. 18, and candidates can email their registrations or turn them in to the box in the SG office located in room 150 of the LSU Student Union.
Pre-filing will be from Feb. 18-19 and can be completed through SG’s TigerLink page. A list of qualified candidates will be posted by Feb. 20 on the door of the SG office and on the SG elections webpage. The filing period will be from Feb. 20-22, and another qualified candidates list will be released on Feb. 25.
Mandatory meetings for student body presidential and vice presidential candidates will be on Feb. 27 from 5 to 6 p.m. in the Capital Chamber room in the Union.
The active campaigning period will be from March 11-15, and the SG debate will take place March 12 from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Magnolia Room in the Union.
The general election will be March 18, and students will vote via Moodle. A runoff election will ensue if necessary.
Candidates are required to turn in their financial reports, even if they spent no money campaigning, via email or the box in the SG office on March 19. Candidates generally fund their campaigns by accepting private donations.
Election results will be announced on March 20 from 4 to 5 p.m. at the Live Oak Lounge in the Union.
