Students can decide next year’s executive leadership of the Student Association and Campus Activities Board later this month.

The SA released a list of candidates for the positions last week. The order in which the candidates appear on the ballot was based on when candidates submitted the required 400 signatures.

Campaigning season officially began Feb. 23, SA Elections Commissioner Praveen Anbudaiyan said.

The Northern Star will hold a candidates debate forum later this month, on a date to be announced.

This is the second year CAB will hold public elections to choose the president and the first to choose the entire executive board. The CAB constitution, rewritten in December, changed the structure of the organization and how the executive board is decided.

The SA/CAB will hold elections March 29 and 30. The SA bylaws call for the election to be held on the last Tuesday and Wednesday of March, although Spring Break falls in the middle of the campaign season.

“The same thing happened last year where Spring Break fell two weeks before the elections, and it can be [a problem] at times because people go home for Spring Break and forget what’s going on,” said Jennifer Suerth, candidate for SA vice president. “People have to know what your campaign is about, and you have to hit the pavement.”

But student trustee candidate Andrew Nelms said he does not think Spring Break will affect the elections.

“There’s enough time after Spring Break for everyone to kind of get back in the swing of things to make sure everyone is well-informed about the issues,” Nelms said.

The timing might affect enthusiasm for the elections.

“I’m sure the election will be more intense because of the compressed time line,” Anbudaiyan said.

The bylaws limit campaigning methods. Candidates cannot campaign in classrooms between the hours of 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. This also includes posting campaign ads on classroom billboards.

Ballot candidates were required to attend one of two candidate meetings and submit a minimum of 400 signatures.

Nelms said he estimated about 40 people attended the first meeting, while only a handful attended the second meeting.

“If someone is even thinking of running they will attend the meeting,” Nelms said. “People will generally come to the meeting and if they decide not to run, fine.”

Deadline for turning signatures in was Feb. 18.

Even though attendance is generally high, Nelms said attendance was about average.

Four candidates running for SA positions decided to run together as a group, using the “Get Represented” banner.

“‘Get Represented’ is the campaign name from when Jeff [Meyer] and Raoul [Gravel] ran three years ago,” Suerth said. “We brought it back so students will know we will represent them fully and completely in the Student Association and Board of Trustees. We truly believe the students are not being represented by the current administration.”

It is common for people running for office to work together as a group when campaigning, sometimes creating a party name or theme, Nelms said.

“We have a very strong relationship with one another – there will certainly be a good deal of cooperation between the candidates,” Nelms said. “We are all very strongly working toward the success of one another.”