Undergraduate Student Government (USG) elections are today, and many expect the presidential race to be a tight one.

Students can vote online at www.vote.psu.edu between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. or in 129AB HUB from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Steph Wood, head elections commissioner, has said she hopes at least 10,000 students will vote today. Yesterday, however, she said she was unsure if this goal will be achieved.

"I think a lot of it falls to the candidates [today]," Wood said, adding that some candidates plan to be more aggressive today in campaigning to get students to vote.

Current USG President Rubina Javeri said she expects a "very close race" today for president and vice president of USG.

Executive candidates have said since last week that their competitors are strong and they also expect a close race.

Javeri said tonight's elected executive leaders need to be strong people with experience working with students and the administration.

Wood urged students to take the time to vote for candidates.

"Students get the chance to pick their student leaders and those student leaders have the best chance to successfully change things on campus to make things better," Wood said.

Important issues which the new USG administration will face during the next Congress include handling rising tuition and building a relationship with the new vice president for student affairs, Javeri said.

The new executive ticket also will work on forming a relationship statement between the greek community and the Penn State administration, she added.

All this in addition to the candidates' platform goals and more is in store for the elected representatives.

Javeri said students should look at what USG has done in the last year and that her administration has "pretty much" completed its platform goals.

Students can also write in unofficial candidates on the ballot.

The executive ticket write-in hopefuls who have been actively campaigning are Chef and Helga, candidates sponsored by the Monty Python Society. Their platform goals include making tuition free, moving downtown closer to campus and turning the Forum Building into a carousel.

Students will also have the chance today to voice their opinion through 12 referendum questions on the ballot. They include questions on downtown surveillance cameras, recreational facilities and Penn State's smoking policy.

The point of the referendum questions is to give USG a good idea of how students think about things that come up throughout the year, said USG Senate President Bridget Van Osten.

She said students' answers to the questions will not result in direct changes, but if an overwhelming number of students vote a certain way on an issue, that issue would be more of a priority for USG to work on.

In addition to the six official executive tickets, 39 students are running for seats in USG Senate, the student government's primary legislative body.

Candidates also are seeking membership in University Park Allocation Committee and Association of Residence Hall Students.

Last year, 7,266 students voted on USG election day.