The 2021 Associated Students elections are underway

HSU students can vote for their 2021-2022 AS officers online on April 12 through April 16.

Even though the last date to appear on the ballet was March 29, students can still register to be a write-in up until April 8.

Casey Park, AS board coordinator and AS elections committee advisor, said that there are currently six fully filed candidates on the ballot who are running for five positions, and the president position is the only one right now that is being contested.

“We have 10 elected positions that are available for students to file to be a write-in candidate for,” Park said. “This week, we will be having a debate for the president candidates and discussions between pairs of our other candidates.”

The current AS President, Jeremiah Finley, is up for re-election and believes that he has a chance to continue advocating for students on campus.

“In leading the AS Board of Directors and the student body at HSU this year, I have had to challenge and probe more intentionally as the student voice needed to be introduced into spaces that it hadn’t been in before,” Finley said.

Being a part of the student government during the pandemic year of 2020, the AS board members had to face unforeseen challenges. However, it allowed Finley to find support in places where he hadn’t thought to look and created relationships with campus partners that were previously unobtainable like with the other AS Presidents in the CSU system.

AS Vice President Malluli Cuéllar is grateful for the opportunity to experience taking part in the election process before COVID-19, as well as being a part of guiding her peers through the virtual transition.

“It definitely felt unfamiliar, but having to adapt to virtual elections allowed candidates to explore innovative ways of campaigning,” Cuéllar said.

She said that although she may have been the first VP to spend her whole elected year virtually chairing meetings, she is likely not going to be the last. Cuéllar looks forward to passing off all of the knowledge and tips that have helped her during her time as VP.

Cuéllar is especially appreciative of her time with AS and feels like it built her up and she has emerged as a confident and empowered leader ready to navigate any spaces she enters knowing that she can contribute in meaningful ways.

“The most beneficial part of being a part of the student government from my perspective is knowing that in every space I walk into, when repping the student body, I have about 5,000 students behind me,” Finley said.