Student Association has begun the process of electing a new president and vice president for the 2018-2019 academic year.

Petitions were made available on Feb. 12, and all Oswego State students interested in running for either position were required to attend an information session about the rules of the elections on Feb. 4 through Feb. 9.

On March 4, those who have received the appropriate number of signatures on their petition must turn those petitions in. Those running for president or vice president need 500 signatures, but the petitions have space for 550 names in the event that false names are given during the signing process.

Between March 6 and 8, the SA Elections Subcommittee, which is responsible for managing every aspect of the elections each year, will review the petitions to ensure they fit the requirements imposed, such as number of signatures, and that petitions were administered by the candidate themselves.

Last year, Emily Stasko asked for her teammates to assist with the petitioning process, which disqualified her from the election process, causing some controversy over the transparency of the election rules.

Once the petitions pass the Election Subcommittee, the official slate of candidates will be posted online and in residence halls across campus on March 20. Once the official slate is posted, candidates may begin campaigning for their positions.

According to the Student Association President/Vice President Elections Packet, political canvassing, including for a position in SA, must be approved by the Office of Residence Life and Housing if it is to occur in a residence hall. If the candidate wishes to canvas in any non-residential building, they must talk to the Department of Campus Life or Auxiliary Services if they wish to canvas in a dining hall. No door-to-door canvasing on college grounds is permitted.

Between March 22 and April 12, the debates will begin. At most three debates will occur, but specific dates and times have not yet been determined.

On April 15, the campaign process will end, and the polls will open on April 17. Hosted on the SA website through LakerLife, all students that pay their student activities fee will be able to vote for one candidate for president and one candidate for vice president. Shared tickets, where a president and vice president run together, will not be allowed.

Once the elections close on April 18, the following meeting of the SA Senate will hold a vote on the election results. The senate will vote on whether the election results are fair and accurate representations of the votes of the students.

On April 25, the SA Supreme Court will validate the election results, again to confirm the results are a fair and accurate representation of the student vote.

Finally, on May 1, the new SA president and vice president will be sworn into their positions and work with the outgoing president and vice president as the administrations switch over before summer break begins.

Updates will be sent out to students via their Oswego email accounts as the election process continues.