The Student Association executive elections began with a rough start, as all seven candidates received sanctions Tuesday.

Candidates Delonte LeFlore, Gina Gregolunas, Joshua Venaas and Elliot Echols were sanctioned by Elections Commissioner Jasmine Harvell to cease campaigning for two hours after campaign materials were found in the Holmes Student Center and DuSable Hall. All four candidates are running on the same election ticket.

“You’re trying to campaign and you forget where they are at,” LeFlore said.

Brandon Grosz, chair of the Board of Elections, said SA bylaws prevent candidates from campaigning within 100 feet of polling stations and campaigning or distributing campaign materials within the same building of polling stations.

Candidates Derek Koegel and Rachel Wilkins, running on the same election ticket, received two sanctions and had to cease campaigning for some time. One sanction was issued for flyers found in the Holmes Student Center and Founders Memorial Library. The second sanction was for distributing unapproved handbills in the MLK Commons area.

After several hours, Koegel and Wilkins went back to campaigning when they fixed their handbills, Koegel said.

“We didn’t know they were unapproved handbills,” Koegel said. “It was our mistake.”

Koegel said he does not think the sanctions slowed down his campaign.

Candidate Jack Barry will not be able to campaign until 10 a.m. Wednesday after he was issued two sanctions. Posters from his campaign were found in DuSable Hall in the morning and again in the afternoon.

Barry said he was going to be out of DeKalb Wednesday and wanted to get all of his campaigning done early. He said he forgot to take the posters down before the elections. He said does not think this action will stop his campaign.

Final Plans

Today is the last day students can vote for candidates running for several SA positions.

Laura Raymond, junior psychology major, hasn’t decided whether she is going to vote but said voting is important because “it gives people a say on campus.”

Derek Koegel, a senior international politics major and SA president candidate, said even if he and Rachel Wilkins, junior art major and SA vice president candidate, don’t win, they still plan on reporting back to the SA to try and improve it as a whole.

Delonte LeFlore, senior organizational and corporate communications major, said Tuesday and today are important.

“We have met with numerous organizations… and we are passing handbills to students encouraging them to go out and vote,” LeFlore said.

Rachel Sonberg, junior psychology major, said elections are something people should participate in.

“I think it’s important for people who are into politics to vote,” Sonberg said.

Editor’s note: Staff writer Lauren Dielman contributed to this article.