The first year class will vote this week to elect a class president and members of the First Year Council.
The University Board of Elections will oversee the election, as they do with most student representative elections on Grounds.
There are 17 candidates running for class president, compared to 10 in the 2013 election. The full list of candidates can be found here.
The candidates have been campaigning through chalking, posting flyers, advertising on social media and talking to students in person. But first-year College students Rehan Razzaq and Joumana Altallal said they would like to hear more from the candidates before voting.
“The prospective voters do not seem to have enough information on the process or people,” Razzaq said. “Information on how to vote should be more readily available through flyers. The FYC should have an ice cream social open to all students so we have the chance to know all of them.”
Altallal said voting was often based on factors other than the candidates’ platforms, such as pre-existing friendships.
“I think that the FYC elections are a great way for first years to get their voices heard around [Grounds],” Altallal said. “I do think that candidates could be more vocal about their ideas. I know that during the preliminary elections, many first years voted almost randomly.”
FYC, co-advised by the Alumni Association and the Office of Residence Life, is responsible for putting on programs for the first-year class, such as the First Year Formal. Emily Handy, Assistant Director of Student Programs, said FYC is the representative body of the first-year class.
“It is made up of three representatives from each association and two representatives from each residential college, for a total of 54 members,” Handy said. “Members meet weekly to plan events that target the needs of and promote unity within the first-year class.”
UBE held a town hall last Friday for candidates to promote their ideas for bringing the class together and the identity they plan to establish for the first-year class.
In addition to overseeing elections, UBE collects data on voter turnout each year.
“Voter turnout is typically around 50 percent for the FYC elections because of the engaged nature of most first-year classes,” said third-year College Krishna Korupolu, Chair of UBE, said. “With a lot of candidates running for first-year president, it might be slightly higher this year.”
Voting is open from Sept. 22-25. First year students can vote online here.
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