Students running for the 46 open Student Association seats might pick up their election packet today at the SA office, located on the second floor of the Holmes Student Center.

Each candidate must return a petition with 200 signatures of constituents in their district to the SA office by 4:30 p.m. Sept. 13, SA vice president Gregg Bliss said.

Elections will be held Sept. 20 and 21.

Elections have been held in the second week of September in previous years, Bliss said. The extra week was installed into the election schedule in an effort to show the importance of an SA position through the campaigning process and to increase voter awareness of the elections, he said.

The “confusion” of Add/Drop and moving-in processes were also considerations in adding the extra week, Bliss said.

The two voting districts are divided between on-campus and off-campus students. In the elections, 16 on-campus seats and 32 off-campus seats will be decided.

On-campus seats pertain only to those students in the residence halls, Bliss said.

This year, 200 signatures are required instead of 100 signatures as in previous years due to a bylaw change, said SA Election Commissioner Rob Perry.

The packet also contains a description of the duties of SA senators, their requirements and what will be expected of them if they are elected, he said.

Upon the election of the senators, verification of their good academic standing will be handled through the Office of Registration and Records.

Two mandatory information meetings for the candidates are scheduled for the evenings of Sept. 13 and 25, although location details have yet to be finalized, Bliss said.

The Sept. 13 meeting will deal primarily with campaign rules. “The meeting will cover basic ethics of political campaigning,” Perry said.

The Sept. 25 meeting will focus on Roberts’ Rules of Order and other procedures that are followed during SA meetings. This meeting will be held immediately prior to the first SA meeting of the semester, Bliss said.

Any complaints concerning the way candidates are campaigning can be directed to Perry.

Decisions regarding sanctions placed on those candidates who violate the campaign regulations will be made on an independent basis, Perry said. Although Perry will make the ultimate decision, this will only come after consulting with the other members of the SA executive board, he said.

“The main factor in that (a candidate violating the campaign rules) situation is if the violation was a misunderstanding or if it was deliberate,” Perry said.

Perry said he has a “realistic” voter turnout goal of 1,500 students. The last election turnout saw “only around 1,200” students, he said.

In an effort to increase voter turnout, Perry is looking into the possibility of setting up election tables at selected residence halls.