Upcoming elections on and off the NIU campus was the focus of Sunday’s Student Association meeting.

At the meeting, 26 out of 38 senators were in attendance and voted to approve nominated members for the board of elections and the elections commissioner. The elections will be for SA positions and will take place on March 24 and 25.

Samantha Schuten, senior anthropology major who works as a secretary for the SA offices, was chosen to be elections commissioner.

“I got to see [the SA] do it in the fall semester, and I thought it was really interesting, and I wanted to get more involved in the SA, and I thought this was how I was able to do it,” Shuten said.

Chosen to act as the board of elections were senators Patrick Talley, Brandon Hunter, Christina Williams, Dan Matousek and Antawan Martin, who was also chosen to be chair of the board.

Together, the elections commissioner and board will oversee the electoral process and ensure candidates campaign in accordance to SA policy and procedure. They are also responsible for setting up polling stations, counting votes and organizing debates.

Speaker of the Senate Matthew Venaas mentioned a debate will be held on March 17 at 7 p.m. in the Altgeld Auditorium. It has been five years since an executive debate has been organized.

As for off-campus elections, Erik Calmeyer, the SA director of governmental affairs, said he is trying to organize a debate for the DeKalb aldermen. A tentative date of Feb. 25 has been set for that debate.

“I think it’s very important for [NIU students] to know who their aldermen are, what their goals are for the city and who would represent their best interests,” Calmeyer said.

In addition to addressing the elections, the SA also approved of two new senators, which brought their senator count to 38 senators.

Ashley Michels, sophomore journalism and English major, said becoming a senator fulfills her wish to become more involved with NIU.

“I really like to be in a leadership role, and I’m looking for more ways to be involved in the campus, and I really want to know what’s going on, and I really want to have a say in it,” Michels said.

Matousek, sophomore philosophy major, felt it to be an honor to be approved as a senator.

“I’m really excited to participate in this organization and help out the student body by getting

involved and informing them of the opportunities of SA,” Matousek said.

The SA also gave approval to one student organization called Liberated Minds, a group that looks to lift the burdens of students’ minds by making them more knowledgeable of the world around them.