Students will elect new Student Association Senators today and Wednesday.

Voting will be from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Campaigning for the election began last week and there are 68 students on the ballot. Each district can have up to eight senators elected.

Districts two, three and four have 18 candidates each, while district one has eight and district five has six.

Senators are elected from five districts around the area. District one is for upperclassmen–students living in Stevenson, University Plaza and Neptune. District two is for underclassmen–students living in Lincoln, Douglas, and Grant. District three is students living west of the Kishwaukee River, excluding those who live in districts one, two and four. District four includes students living in the Kishwaukee River, Annie Glidden Road, Lucinda Ave. and Northern DeKalb city limits. District five is students residing in DeKalb east of the Kishwaukee River and students residing outside of DeKalb during the school year. 

Voting polls will be located in the Holmes Student Center, DuSable Hall, Founders Memorial Library, Barsema Hall and the Recreation Center.

Election Commissioner Patrick Friersonsaid he believes the election process is going well.

“Campaigning is going quite well,” Frierson said, “The whole process is going very smooth.”

The SA is loosely modeled after the U.S. government, with the senate serving as the legislative branch. The senate is responsible for recognizing student groups and allocating supplemental funding for groups that receive SA funding.

The senate also approves the SA’s allocation budget and confirms all appointed positions. This year, the SA allocated $1.6 million to a number of student groups.

Patrick Talley is the current Speaker of the Senate who is also running for District 3. Talley said a person cannot serve on two different branches of the Senate, but since the Speaker and Senate positions are both a part of the legislative branch, he can hold both positions.

Talley said he hopes to fill the Senate this year. There are a total of 40 seats on the senate, and this week’s election will see 38 senators elected.

“My goal is to have a full Senate,” he said.

After the elections, interested students have the option to fill vacant senate seats by applying for a Senator-At-Large position.

Managing Editor Matt Liparota also contributed to this article.