Student Government candidates were out in full force this past week using a variety of techniques in hopes to win over voters. Their campaigning is coming to an end, as voting is set to open at 8 p.m. Monday.

In this year’s election, candidates looked back at previous leaders for advice and insight on the most effective ways to campaign. Student body president candidate Jess Errico, a fourth-year studying mechanical engineering and aerospace engineering, contacted a two-time NC State student body president for encouragement and campaigning tactics.

“Tony Caravano was a student body president twice from 2003-2005, and I was able to sit down and talk with him recently when he was in town,” Errico said. “I got to talk with him about what he saw as being the challenges of the role, the areas that people are most unprepared for and how to prepare for them, and then also had that chance at the end to talk campaign strategy as well. He has certainly provided some insight to what it was like to be study body president and the whole campaign atmosphere.”

For Mia Connell, a student body president candidate and third-year studying sociology, a campaign on a much larger scale caught her attention.

“I saw Barack Obama during his first tour when he visited my home town,” Connell said. “He just spoke very candidly and he kind of tried to focus on speaking on a very natural level, and I think that that is something that candidates struggle with because they talk in ways that people don’t understand. Definitely seeing how natural he was is just something that people respond a lot to.”

Many of the candidates have found it meaningful to interact with on-campus groups and organizations by speaking at their meetings and getting to know them one-on-one. Candidates were present at busy locations on campus, including the Brickyard, Centennial Campus and Greek Court.

Student body president candidate Alberto Quiroga, a fourth-year studying aerospace engineering, ran for student body president last year. Quiroga discussed the fundamentals of campaigning he learned from experience and how he intended to use them in his campaign.

“Visibility, honestly, making sure your face is out there,” Quiroga said. “Making sure your voice is out there and that students know who you are. We want to make sure that we are visible on campus, that we’re walking around and avoiding being secluded in one area.”

Quiroga finds it important to not only increase visibility, but improve approachability, as well.

“We are walking around Talley, we’re walking around the Brickyard and we’re walking around Centennial to make sure these students can see us and they know that they can easily approach us,” Quiroga said.

Word of mouth has helped candidates make sure their name is known around campus. Student body president candidate Taylor Pulliam, a third-year studying political science, has been utilizing this strategy throughout his campaign.

“I think the best thing we’ve done is just talking to people, and I especially think that social media has helped a lot,” Pulliam said. “Me and Cat [Duble] are both very outgoing people with a large friend base that can vouch for us to show how much we care.”

Although campaign methods are important, candidates had to keep in mind the campaign rules and procedures in the midst of it all.

Board of Elections chair Anna Kate Whitfield, a fourth-year studying political science, is responsible for the campaigning rules, upholding an adequate structure of voting procedures and providing resources to candidates on an unbiased basis.

“The biggest one for me is expense reports,” Whitfield said. “I’m a really big stickler for the deadline, which is 5 p.m. both Mondays and 8:15 p.m. on the Tuesday of the voting day. I know it sounds like a simple thing for them to turn in on time, but if they are late then they get a warning and three of those are disqualification. They have a spending limit, so we monitor just to make sure they’re not spending more than other candidates. It’s just a way to keep it fair.” 

Voting will begin on Monday at 8 p.m. and will end on Tuesday at 8 p.m.