The Student Government kicked off fall elections Tuesday night with a "Candidates and Coffee" meet-and-greet in the Mud Box.
"We were pleased by the turnout; obviously we would always want more people," Board of Elections Chair Joe Pavel said.
The Undergraduate Senate and Class of 2010 council campaigns began this week and will continue until polls open on Monday.
The most highly contested races are the Class of 2010 Council and Senate seats, with seven candidates vying for the class president seat and 12 competing for the five open Senate seats.
The Class of 2007 and Class of 2008 races are the only two races that do not have enough candidates running to fill all the seats.
The Mud Box was full of candidates and constituents, according to Pavel, who was pleased that candidates were intermingling.
"Hopefully it will foster candidates being more civil and not as cutthroat as it has been in the past, which is something we're trying to promote this year," Pavel said.
"Candidates and Coffee" was used as a test run for the spring elections in hopes that candidates can "get exposure and help people on campus meet the people who are running instead of just getting flyers ... because there is a person behind all that," Pavel said.
Voting for the election will begin Monday at 9 a.m. and last until 6 p.m. Tuesday. Students can vote through their my.american.edu portals and election results will be announced live on ATV Channel 2 Tuesday at 8 p.m.
