DeKALB – Five students were approved by the SGA Senate to serve on the spring Board of Elections on Sunday at the virtual meeting.

Senator Michael Verlinksy was nominated to be the chair for the Board of Elections and was voted in with 15 in favor, zero against and two abstentions. 

“I ran last election, so I know what the process looks like with the [COVID-19] protocols, and I know there’s going to be things changing, so I will ensure a balanced election and help the director as much as I possibly can,” Verlinksy said.

Dylan Moffitt, senior political science major with a minor in nonprofit NGO studies, said he doesn’t want an executive branch candidate or any candidate running to go unopposed.

Because there are not as many students on campus, Moffitt believes that SGA will spend less time hanging up posters on academic buildings, and more time campaigning online, Moffitt said.

“We’re going to utilize the methods that we use right now, including social media and email… I’m pretty familiar with those platforms, and there’s over 100 student organizations we can reach out to like that,” Moffitt said. “Hopefully, they will bring some of their members to SGA’s attention during the elections.”

Jada Johnson, sophomore pre-nursing major, was selected to serve on the Board of Elections, with Jacob Eul, freshman computer science major, as her alternate.

“I think a great way to get many students to join the Student Government is to reach out to different people with different backgrounds,” Johnson said. “I feel like a lot of people don’t know what SGA is because there isn’t a lot of reaching out to different backgrounds –  it’s only a certain group of people that usually know what [SGA] is.”

Senator Alberto Briones and Senator Cristian Hernandez were selected to serve on the board and share Johnson’s wish to diversify the election board committee.

“People have talked about diversifying the ballots, and I also think we need to diversify the election board committee,” Briones said. “This is not only with ethnicity or gender but also with age and life experiences.”

Hernandez’s approach with diversifying the ballot lies within the leadership of SGA.

“I want to diversify the ballot, and I mean that in every way – if that makes sense,” Hernandez said. “I have been sharing this with the Senate leadership, but I feel it’s on the Board of Elections too. Well, it is on the board to create the ballot, and I feel like this is going to be a good responsibility and something that I want to be part of.”