With the Government of the Student Body presidency seat up for grabs for the fall of 2007, several students have announced their interest in the seat as well as other offices.

The final candidate seminar will be at noon Monday, and anyone considering a run for GSB office is encouraged to attend. It will be in Room 3512 of the Memorial Union.

Michael Gilbert, GSB election commissioner and senior in mechanical engineering is very involved in the election process.

“As election commissioner, I basically run the elections but also make sure they stay fair and make sure nothing gets out of hand,” he said.

At the candidate seminars, prospective candidates receive a packet of things they will need to know for the upcoming elections, Gilbert said.

According to the GSB election code, this packet includes a statement of intent form, blank petition form, the election code, an election calendar that has times and locations for all events, and any other information the Election Commission deems necessary.

Gilbert said that they go over all this information during the seminar.

“We go through that whole packet and the procedure behind it,” he said.

Tim Reineke, GSB senator and junior in political science, explained some of the responsibilities that he has as a GSB senator.

“[One is] obviously to attend the GSB meetings,” he said.

GSB senators are also required to attend constituency council meetings, Reineke said.

Besides the meetings, Reineke said, all senators must keep office hours. They must serve two office hours a week.

In all, Reineke said, he spends about seven or eight hours a week working on GSB-related issues.

The most important responsibilities that come with being a GSB senator include communicating with constituents on how issues will affect them and how to become informed about those issues, Reineke said.

“The most important responsibilities, I think, are to become informed about issues that GSB is doing,” he said.

These are the most important responsibilities because people really listen to GSB, Reineke said.

“I feel that’s the most important because the resolutions or the bills that are passed by GSB are listened to very strongly by the administration and the Board of Regents,” he said.

Reineke added that communicating with constituents about issues would help those constituents be heard.

For those students considering a run for a GSB position, Reineke wants to make sure they understand the amount of time it involves.

“If they are willing to make the time commitment, I guess I’d just say go for it,” he said.

For those who want to get on the ballot, Gilbert said to contact him. He will then e-mail the prospective candidate all the information they need to submit in order to be considered. Once he receives that, he would put the name on the ballot. But the deadline is fast approaching – 8 a.m. on Tuesday.

Students are able to vote in the election via the Internet, Gilbert said. The election is held on March 5 and 6.

“It’s all online, so anybody with a computer with Internet can vote, and every student at ISU can vote, so there’s no restrictions,” he said.

Voter turnout has been poor in the past, Gilbert said. Last year’s turnout was only about 10 percent.

This year, he said he hopes to change this.

Public relations, advertising and word of mouth were all techniques that Gilbert hoped to use to increase voter turnout.

Gilbert highly encouraged any student to run, but said time is running out.

“I can take you off [the ballot] after the date but I can’t put you on,” he said.

For more information, contact Gilbert by e-mail at [email protected] or [email protected], or by phone at (612) 237-7145.