It’s that time of the year, again! Student Body Elections are set to occur on April 13th, 2022. During this election, students are able to vote for the Student Body President/Vice President, as well as Student Senators that represent where you live and the college that you are a part of. 

A poll of different students across campus showed that many did not know how to vote (but wanted to know more), have not voted in previous elections, and did not know the full scope of what Student Government could do for them. Student Government is “active on campus in supporting the voice of UND students through student representation and legislation regarding student issues. In addition, Student Government financially supports free bus rides, student discounts, student organizations, and other programs and services across campus” as stated on the UND website. Student Body Elections is a way for all students to use their voice to elect someone to make the changes that they want to see on campus.  

The election for Student Body positions will be a one-day event on April 13th. ALL students, no matter what college, undergraduate/graduate, living situation, etc. are allowed (and encouraged!) to vote during the student elections. Information on the voting process is as follows. 

• The polls for the election will be open from 8:30am-5:30pm. 
• All voting will take place online. All students will be provided a link through their student emails to place your votes. The link will be sent out the morning of April 13th.  

• To log into the link provided, students will have to use their UND credentials to log-in. Each student will only be eligible to vote one time. Using UND credentials ensures that only students are voting, and that students are only submitting one vote.  

As stated previously, students will be eligible to vote for Student Body President/Vice President and for senators that represent your living situation and college. Currently, there are two candidate tickets for President and Vice President. This includes Sadie & Strand and Wahl & Mastrud (to learn more about their campaigns, read more on the Dakota Student). Students will vote for the “ticket” when it comes to President and Vice President; meaning that you will either vote for Sadie & Strand or Wahl & Mastrud as a pair rather than separately.  

When it comes to voting for the Senators, students will vote for the candidate who represent where they live and what college they are apart of. For example, someone who is in the College of Arts and Science who lives off campus will vote for the Senator(s) who represent the College of Arts and Science and Off-Campus. Senator candidates may be affiliated with the two tickets above, however, votes do not need to be cast based on these affiliations. This means you can vote for any Senator candidate (that is a representative of your living arrangements/college) regardless of who they support in the presidential portion of the election.  

In the past few years, only a fraction of the UND student population have been voting in the Student Body elections. The lack of participation can be chalked up to lack of awareness of elections (due to the pandemic), limited education/understanding how to vote, and not understanding the full scope of what Student Government is. These limitations have limited accessibility to students which has limited the voices of students.  

The students that are elected to their positions are a direct reflection of the students who elected them. They represent the voices for all students on campus, so it is imperative that more than a small fraction of students participate in the elections. Both presidential tickets have reiterated the importance of education about Student Government (what they can do, fund, etc.) and about the election process as a whole.  

For more information about Sadie & Strand or for Wahl & Mastrud, please visit their respective articles on the Dakota Student. 

Student Government Race in Full Swing – Wahl & Mastrud

Student Government Race in Full Swing – Sadie & Strand

Dominique Menard is a Dakota Student News Editor. She can be reached at [email protected].