Campaigns for seats in Parliament officially started on Monday, after Temple Student Government announced the candidates in its General Body meeting.
60 students are vying for the 37 seats in Parliament and will campaign until Nov. 14, followed by voting on Nov. 15 and 16.
“We had a very good turnout,” said TSG’s Elections Commissioner, Noah Goff. “It was right on what we were hoping for … we have competition for nearly every seat.”
Some students are running unopposed and “any amount of votes they get will guarantee a win,” Goff said.
TSG will post a voting guide on its website that will show the different students running for each seat.
The guide will show the student’s picture, what seat they’re running for and their answers to one of the questions they had to fill out on the Parliament application.
Goff said he thinks that the information on the website will not overwhelm students and would give them all the necessary facts to make a decision.
TSG will host two ‘Meet Your Candidate’ events, one on Nov. 10 from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. The second will be at a General Assembly meeting on Nov. 14 at 4 p.m.
Goff said TSG would like to see about 35 to 40 percent of students voting.
Voter turnout for TSG general elections was 12.72 percent in Spring 2016.
“We’re hoping for a significantly higher turnout because of the number of candidates, the number of seats that are open and how important this representation is,” he said.
“I am utilizing a lot of people in my classes … I’m telling them to communicate the message that I’m running [for Parliament],” said Emily Wolak, a sophomore psychology major who is running for the one of the sophomore representative seats. “I’m going to be making flyers and over the weekend I made little treats and stuff for people … I’m just relying on communication right now.”
Those running for seats must follow the elections code, which includes a maximum spending amount of $25 per campaign. Candidates are also restricted from accepting money from other organizations or third parties.
“I was thinking about putting a statement on social media since that’s the fastest thing that can get in touch with [students],” said Roohani Gaur, a graduate student majoring in investment management and running for the graduate representative seat. “I’ll get my friends to tell their friends.”
“It’s my third month in America and I would like to represent other people,” Gaur said. “In these three months, we haven’t had much activities for grad students.”
She added that if elected, she would introduce field trips and evening gatherings to connect graduate students who are in different years. Gaur believes that by implementing more class interactions, graduate students can get to know each other better.
“[Parliament] is very important for empowering ourselves as Owls,” said Parliament Liaison Rebecca Gonzalez during the General Assembly meeting.
Be the first to comment