Craig Cassey (COL ’15) announced this week that he will run a write-in campaign to represent one of two student-dominated districts in Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2E.

Cassey originally planned to run as a regular candidate but was unable to obtain the required 25 signatures to be on the ballot. Petitions were supposed to be submitted to the D.C. Board of Election & Ethics by Aug. 8.

“It wasn’t a lack of interest from students. … It was a matter of finding the right people who were already registered,” Cassey said.

Cassey said the petition required signatures from voters in the single-member district where he is running, but many students didn’t have an up-to-date local address ready by the time the petitions were due.

He added that finding students who were registered to vote and had up-to-date registration was made more difficult by the fact that few students stay on campus during the summer.

Despite missing the deadline, Cassey said he is determined to run a successful write-in campaign and increase student knowledge and participation in the local elections.

“This is a lesson in both flexibility and preparation, so moving into a write-in campaign, we’ll definitely be focusing on that,” he said. “The next step I will be taking [will be] educating students who are registered to vote. That includes instructional guides that we’ll be handing out via social media, a lot of them in person.”

Once students return to campus, Cassey plans to try to incorporate new students as much as possible.

“They have a very short amount of time in which they can get involved, but D.C. does allow for same-day registration,” he said.

ANC 2E recently moved to redistrict its jurisdictional area, creating an eighth single member district comprising entirely Georgetown students. Peter Prindiville (SFS ’14) has already filed his petition to represent that district, SMD 2E08. If Cassey wins his campaign to SMD 2E04, it will be the first time in 10 years that two seats on the ANC have been filled by Georgetown students.

Prindiville expressed support for Cassey’s campaign.

“I think he has a really good chance, and I think we’ll do very well representing our districts,” Prindiville said. “I think Craig and I will do a good job of fostering this new era of communication and respect.”

Cassey echoed Prindiville’s statements.

“I’m definitely looking forward to … really pushing for a more cohesive relationship between residents and students,” he said. “We have the agency to make a better Georgetown even beyond the gates.”