DeKALB | The first race for many of the potential candidates for Student Association and Campus Activities Board executive spots was against the clock.

Candidates were required to file a petition for nomination with 400 signatures, due Feb. 16, three days after the first mandatory informational meeting.

Aaron Funfsinn, running for SA president, finished collecting the required signatures only hours before they were due.

“The system is quite chaotic,” Funfsinn said.

“[Other candidates] were also petitioning up until the last hour or two, but felt that it was manageable. It probably is [manageable] if, and only if, you are running on a slate sponsored by a club or organization.”

Last week, the SA and CAB executive elections kicked off with two mandatory informational meetings, held in the Campus Life Building, Room 150.

At these meetings, students planning to run for SA or CAB executive positions were given an election packet that included a timeline, a petition for nomination, a candidate profile sheet, the latest published copy of the NIU SA election bylaws and a list of requirements and necessary information.

To run for either CAB or the SA, candidates must be full-time, fee-paying students at NIU and maintain good academic standing – a GPA of 2.0 or better – at the time of the election and during their time in office.

The student trustee must hold a 2.5 GPA, due to state restrictions.

“Collecting signatures wasn’t a problem at all, although a lot of people didn’t know what the SA was or what it did,” said Lindsey Swanson, candidate for student trustee.

Like Funfsinn, other students were critical of the SA’s petition time frame.

“I can’t imagine getting the signatures alone,” said Kevin Malone, who gathered signatures for Lindsey Swanson.

Write-in candidates have until March 13 to turn in the same packet as candidates on the ballot, but they don’t need the 400 signatures required for nomination.

Ballots featuring write-in candidates who are not registered with the board of elections – such as “Peter Griffin” or “George W. Bush” – will be marked as invalid.

Candidates may begin campaigning Feb. 21, after the SA Board of Elections confirms that candidates meet the qualifications and posts the ballot in the SA office.

According to the latest available copy of the SA Bylaws, Page 31 Article X Section 8, ballot boxes for the SA/CAB election will be in DuSable Hall, the Holmes Student Center and Founders Memorial Library.

Absentee ballots will be available from the Board of Elections on Feb. 23 for students on a leave of absence, on university business or working away from the DeKalb campus on election days.

The current Student Association executive board consists of President Adam Novotney, Vice President Michael Johns, Treasurer Jarvis Purnell and Student Trustee Andrew Nelms. For the Campus Activities Board, the current executives are President Dion Smith, Vice President of Programming Chasity Simon, Vice President of Finance Ricky Garcia, and Vice President of Administration Colleen Murphy. Of the four, Smith is the only currently elected; others were appointed to fill vacancies on the board.