On Friday, Student Government Association President David Sommers announced the candidates for the upcoming SGA Presidential and Vice Presidential election. With three partnerships in the race, Sommers and SGA’s current Vice President, Jackie Jastrzebski, are hoping that the Augustana community take advantage of their right to vote.
Jastrzebski’s main goal this year has been preparing for the election, and ultimately making sure that the campus takes part in this important election.
“I’ve been working on this project with two goals. The first being that I wanted to increase voter turnout and have at least 50% of the school vote in the Presidential election. Secondly, I wanted to make sure that no position is run for unopposed,” Jastrzebski said.
Jastrezebski hopes to engage students in the voting process and provide materials for them, so that they are able to make an informed decision.
“I’ve always been passionate about motivating others to exercise their right to vote, and I’m so glad I have SGA as a platform to hopefully encourage the entire campus to vote in this years election,” she said.
SGA is also very happy with the amount of candidates running in this election.
“Having no position run for unopposed is an important part of a healthy democratic election,” Jastrzebski said. “Competition in an election is a great thing and we’ve asked the whole entire SGA to tap on other students that have potential to become great leaders and encourage them to run for a position.”
The current SGA executive board have been making small changes to this election compared to previous years. The campaign will last for two weeks as opposed to only one that has taken place in previous years. They have also added a meet and greet with the candidates, so the student body is able to get to know the candidates before the debate takes place.
On Monday, March 21st from 6-8pm SGA will host a debate. This debate will moderated by The Observer’s Editor-in-Chief Ryan Silvola and will involve all three Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates. This will give the candidates an opportunity to fully explain their respective platforms. The student body will be able to compare the candidates, and hopefully be given enough information in order to support the candidate the see most fit.
“We want to encourage all students to vote in this election,” Sommers said. “This gives students the opportunity to cast their vote properly and voice their opinion.”
SGA has also increase the amount of time students have to vote. Students now have three days to vote instead of the usual two.
The election will take place on March 29, 30 and 31. There will be tables set up in The Brew and students will receive “I Voted” stickers after they cast their vote.
“Having the entire Student Government support my ideas and goals has been the key factor in advancing our election process for this spring. I’m confident that we will see an increase in overall participation this year, and I hope that it will carry on long past my time at Augustana,” Jastrzebski said.