More students qualified Friday for Student Government elections than did on the first day of qualifying last semester.
Qualifying, which determines whether a candidate is eligible to be a student senator, continues today and Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Room 284 of the Reitz Union.
On Friday, 78 students qualified, according to Supervisor of Elections Stephen Davis. This amount is less than the first day last Fall — which brought in 149 students — but greater than Spring’s first day, at 48, according to Alligator archives.
Once qualified, a student can interview with a political party. The Students Party interviewed 26 students on Friday, Students Party Campaign Manager Dave Bradshaw said. He said the party is not making any decisions until it sees every possible candidate.
“We have good candidates in over half the seats already,” Bradshaw said. “But we certainly need more.”
The Swamp Party, which was created by former Unite Party senators, interviewed 40 students Friday, Swamp Party Spokesman Daniel Landesberg said. He said the party is still trying to get the word out, but he expects more students to interview today and Tuesday.
“What we are really looking for is quality, not quantity,” he said.
Hannah Kaufman, who hopes to represent Hume Hall, said she qualified but did not interview with a party.
The 18-year-old political science freshman said she’ll most likely run as an independent senator.
“I don’t think I identify with a party yet,” Kaufman said. “I feel there is a lot of Greek-versus-non-Greek tension and, even though I’m Greek, I don’t want people to see me that way for political reasons.”
Students will be able to vote for their student representatives Oct. 2 and Oct. 3.
Contact Samantha Shavell at sshavell@alligator.org.
