Elliot Poindexter, president of the student government's Judicial Council, held a meeting Tuesday for students interested in running for student body president and vice president. At the meeting, Poindexter outlined some of the rules for the election process. Each pair of candidates - one presidential hopeful and his or her running mate - must gather 700 signatures on a petition before they are allowed to run. This number was changed from last year's requirement of 300 signatures at Monday's meeting of the Council of Representatives.Petitions will be available beginning Jan. 13 to those wishing to run, and they will be due back to the Student Government office Jan. 23. Elections will be held Feb. 9, and a runoff election will be held, if necessary, on Feb. 12.Poindexter also said debates will be held in order for the student body to become familiar with the candidates' platforms, but dates for these have not been set.Other election regulations include a campaign spending limit of $200, approval of posters and other campaign materials by Poindexter's office and the Office of Student Activities, and restrictions as to where campaign materials can be placed around campus.Poindexter concluded by encouraging those interested in running to attend student government meetings."If you are truly interested in running, I would encourage you to attend some of the meetings we have ... to get a feel for what's going on," Poindexter said.Also in attendance at the meeting was former student body president Pat Hallahan, who spoke briefly to the students on the importance of student government at this time."This is a great turnout," Hallahan said, referring to the 18 students who came to the meeting. "I really think this is a big time to be getting involved in student government. There are a lot of issues ... we're making a lot of changes on the student government level."Hallahan also spoke about the position of student body president."It's a lot of time, a lot of commitment ... you're going to a lot of meetings, and it's not always fun," he said. "But I think it's a good thing to do, and it's good for our students that we have a lot of students running."
