Two NIU students filed Student Association senate petitions Monday bringing the petition total to ten, but still not enough to fill the 17 senate seat vacancy.

SA members changed the Monday petition deadline to Tuesday, but District 2 candidates Kathy Rosenberg and James Mertes were the only students to take advantage of the extention.

A Elections Commissioner Ray Callahan said the senate vacancy probably will be filled. District 1 or 3 write-in candidates can win with only a few votes because they have no competition he said.

The District 1 nine-seat vacancy was filled with write-in candidates, demonstrating the success of such campaigns, Callahan said.

The ballot also has a referendum question, needing a majority vote to pass, asking students to support a $1 fee per semester for a Martin Luther King statue.

“I haven’t heard a lot of opposition to it (the referendum), so I think it probably will pass,” said SA President Huda Scheidelman.

SA elections will be held Today and Thursday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. in DuSable Hall, Founders Library and the Holmes Student Center’s Pow Wow cafeteria.

Students can vote for candidates within their district, but they must present their school ID with either a current NIU sticker or class schedule.