TANNARA YELLAND
Associate News Editor

Students will soon be asked to devote some time to electing a new executive for the University of Saskatchewan Students’ Union.

Election season began on March 8 with a preliminary meeting for candidates, who watched a presentation explaining the purpose of the USSU and the details of each position.

There are five positions open to students: president, vice-president external affairs, vice-president operations and finance, vice-president student affairs and vice-president academic affairs.

Last year’s election was a mere formality with only one person running for each position, all being acclaimed. However, there were at least eight candidates present at the initial meeting this year and by the time candidates are finalized on March 15 there could be more — or fewer, if some of the potential candidates fail to show that they are in good standing with their colleges. The fact that there will likely be more than one candidate for some positions promises to make debates and voting more interesting for everyone involved.

The 2009 election was criticized both because only one candidate ran for each position and because no women were in the running. However, at least one of the potential candidates for this year’s election is a woman.

Campaigning begins at 12:01 a.m. on March 17, giving candidates one week to get their faces, names and messages to students before voting begins on March 24.

Look for signs advertising candidates’ debates in the coming weeks.

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