While voting for candidates in the recent Student Government Association elections, many Elon students noticed some substantial vacancies in the ballot. More than one candidate was also running unopposed.

These unfilled positions were not for lack of advertising on the organization’s behalf according to Rachel Long, executive vice president for SGA. The elections packet was released during the first week of classes spring semester to give students plenty of time to consider running for a position, she said.

“Additionally, we held an interest meeting with current executive officers and Grant De Roo, the elections committee chair, to provide interested students with valuable insight into a variety of roles on the senate, as well as the elections process before the election packets were due,” Long said.

The candidate turnout this year is nothing unusual, Long said. It is typical that some races remain empty — especially in the major spring elections.

“There is generally a bit of fluctuation between years, but rarely a drastically different participation rate for candidates,” Long said. “This year in particular is fairly regular, with a bit higher participation in the executive presidential and vice presidential races.”

The empty spots in the ballot remain vacant until Darien Flowers, the new executive president-elect, is sworn into office. All available positions on Academic, which is the coordinating committee of the faculty, and At-Large councils, which consist of class officers and senators for each graduating class, are appointed through a process conducted by the executive president.

De Roo said the process is fairly straightforward.

“How it’s really done is that (the executive president) will go around and see who has an interest in the vacant positions and then he will have the final say on who gets the position,” said De Roo.

The normal process of filing for candidacy, as defined by SGA’s constitution, requires that all candidates must sign the election rules to verify their knowledge of and adherence to the guidelines, and they must obtain signatures of varying quantity (as defined in the election rules) from voters that pertain to their position.

[box] Vacant positions include:

Senior Class Secretary Senior Class Senator Junior Class Secretary [/box]