Student Government elections kicked off Tuesday, and as of 10 a.m. Tuesday, there have been more than 2,000 votes cast by students, vice-election commissioner Robbie Stokka said.

This is roughly half of the votes that were cast during the entire election in 2015, and that might be because of the campaigns each presidential candidate has run.

Cole Staudt thinks the outreach by the campaign has gone great and he has created a team to get the word out about his and Cody West’s campaign.

“Almost every day, I add students to our list of helpers,” Staudt said. “The Student Outreach team we call it. We’ve got an executive team of about eight and a student outreach team of almost 40 people. It’s [about] gathering student input and trying to get a little more excitement about Student Government. They want to be involved and are inspired to help make Iowa State great.”

Raghul Ethiraj was equally excited about the possibility of winning.

“The campaign has been pretty good because every time students hear about what we want to do, they’re immediately excited, Ethiraj said. “As more people hear about us, they’re excited. [That is because] of our genuine campaign and how things are moving. It’s amazing how much support the Iowa State community is giving us, and we really want to thank the community for continuing to support us.”

Zackary Reece hopes to come out on top.

“Of course I would like to win,” Reece said. “That’s always hot in all three of our minds. When it comes to how I think we’ll do, I think we’ll do really well. We’ve had a lot of exposure, [and] we’ve talked to as many clubs and organizations as we could. I really do think we’ll have a fair turnout.”

Students have until the end of Wednesday to vote. Students who didn’t receive a ballot or need technical assistance are asked to send an email to [email protected].

Election results will be announced Friday.