The campaign for fall elections to fill seven open GUSA Assembly seats kicked off Friday, as candidates began to present issues of concern to students who will vote later this week to fill the vacancies.

Seven freshmen and four juniors are seeking election to their classes’ Assembly delegations. The class of 2009 is filling all four of its seats, while juniors are filling three vacancies.

With just seven candidates in the race, the top four vote-getters in Friday’s election will win Assembly seats and avoid the runoff elections that have occurred in recent years.

Benita Sinnarajah (NHS ’06), chair of the GUSA Election Commission, said she was surprised by the low number of freshman vying for Assembly seats, considering the dozens of students who attended the information sessions, but she said that the campaign was proceeding smoothly nonetheless.

“The people we do have are really good,” Sinnarajah said.

While juniors do not normally elect representatives in the fall, three seats in their class delegation were left vacant last spring by the disqualification of Khalil Hibri (MSB ’07), Salik Ishtiaq (SFS ’07) and Julia de Araujo (SFS ’07), who ran on a combined ticket. The Constitutional Council affirmed the Election Commission’s finding that that candidates’ campaign manager violated election regulations by sending an e-mail to members of the Georgetown Social Democrats on election day mentioning the candidates’ names.

That incident raised questions about the feasibility of the student association’s election bylaws, because it came shortly after sweeping reforms following a presidential election in 2004 that lasted over a month.

Sinnarajah said that the strict regulations that the bylaws impose on campaigning, particularly on materials that candidates are allowed to post, have made it difficult for candidates to campaign openly and make broad-based appeals to students.

“We’ve strongly encouraged them to go door to door,” she said.

Some candidates said that they are having difficulty complying with the bylaws. Anthony Bonna (MSB ’09), a candidate for freshman representative, said that the regulations have placed excessive restrictions on his campaign.

“I find it very bureaucratic,” he said of the GUSA election code. “It really doesn’t provide for an effective discussion of campus issues.”

Bonna said that, if elected, he will seek to reform the bylaws and make them more conducive to the encouragement of free speech.

Assembly Chair Ed Duffy (SFS ’07), currently the only junior representative, said that the bylaws currently in place are “acceptable” but agreed that they have created problems, particularly in last year’s election dispute.

“There’s definitely a need for an overhaul of some kind,” Duffy said.

Some candidates said they have found the election rules manageable, however. Will Dreher (SFS ’09), who is running together with Brian Wood (COL ’09), said that the requirements have been easy to follow.

“Most of the laws are about the Election Commission,” he said.

Other issues raised by representative candidates include meal plan reform, student safety and the perennial concern of spreading awareness about the student association.

“I just want people to have a lot more faith in GUSA,” freshman candidate Paul Notice (SFS ’09) said.

In the junior class election, Hibri and Ishtiaq are running again on a combined ticket. Jeremy White (COL ’07) and Christina Goodlander (COL ’07) are also seeking election to the junior seats.

Other candidates seeking election freshman seats are Alisa Alayan (COL ’09), Shannon Corrigan (MSB ’09) and Mickey Sokil (COL ’09).

Assembly officials are looking forward to filling the nearly half of seats that are currently vacant. Duffy said that the vacancies have weakened the body’s ability to function as a part of GUSA at a time when he is trying to make the Assembly more viable.

The election will be held on Friday, and students will vote via the online Saxa server. The GUSA Assembly will sponsor a barbecue to encourage students to vote.

Sinnarajah said that the bylaws require that the results not be announced until 24 hours after the end of voting. She said that the Election Commission will hold the announcement in Sellinger at some point over the weekend.