As of Tuesday night, five students are in the running for UNC Student Body President.
Though they submitted their paperwork in the early evening, juniors Winston Howes, Manoj Mirchandani, Andrew Powell, Nikita Shamdasani and Emilio Vicente were prohibited from campaigning before midnight.
The campaign season also started for the students seeking to be presidents of the Residence Hall Association, Graduate and Professional School Federation and senior class officers. There are also various seats of Student Congress up for grabs.
To be put on the ballot, candidates for all positions are required to get their designated numbers of signatures by Tuesday at 5 p.m. The election will take place Feb. 11, and students can vote online at the UNC Student Life website.
The candidates have already planned the directions in which they each would like to lead UNC.
“I’ve been really involved in student government over the past two years, and I’ve been frustrated by issues that keep cropping up,” said Shamdasani.
Shamdasani has worked for student body presidents twice before — for Mary Cooper during her freshman year and then again for Will Leimenstoll.
She said her platform commitments include responding to student feedback and empowering students, two issues that have bothered her during previous experiences.
Shamdasani said her campaign is focused on making the election a fun and interactive process.