Student government's top spot is up for grabs in today's online University Park Undergraduate Association (UPUA) election.
University Park undergraduate students can vote between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. at vote.psu.edu.
The results will be announced at about 10:15 tonight in HUB Alumni Hall, where the UPUA candidates and their colleagues will meet.
At 6 this morning, the presidential tickets and the UPUA elections commissioners were scheduled to join for breakfast at The Waffle Shop, 364 E. College Ave., in what has become a tradition in recent years.
"That's a great way for us all to come together and realize that we're still all going to be student leaders at this university," said presidential candidate Nick Borsuk (junior-political science), the current Council of Commonwealth Student Governments Student Affairs director. "We're still going to have to work together after the election."
Each candidate said they would be up before the breakfast, some posting fliers around campus and finalizing plans for election day.
Though all of the candidates said they did not plan to sleep much Tuesday night, candidate Samantha Miller, the current UPUA Governmental Affairs chairwoman, added she planned to eat one of her favorite dinners before going to bed.
"I was raised on pasta and butter. It's comfort food and energy food; it's carbs to pump me up," Miller (junior-political science) said with a laugh. "It's all I ever ate as a kid anyway, so I'll probably go with something like that."
Current UPUA President Gavin Keirans, who is running for re-election, said he plans to "stock up on caffeine" to aid his efforts in encouraging voting.
But caffeine isn't the only thing Keirans (junior-business management) will rely on to help get him through the day.
"I'll say my prayers and hope for the best," Keirans said.
The candidates aren't the only ones who will be up early this morning. UPUA Head Elections Commissioner Alex Goodstein said the elections commissioners will set up computer polling stations in the HUB-Robeson Center and post fliers around campus.
The commissioners will also set up computer polling stations in the campus dining commons, which will be open during the dinner rush, Goodstein (junior-information sciences and technology) said.
He added he hopes voter turnout will be high and that the campaign teams continue to run a "clean campaign like they did throughout the entire campaign period."
In addition to voting for UPUA president and vice president, students may vote for UPUA off-campus, at-large, on-campus and academic college representatives, Goodstein said. The University Park Allocation Committee and the Association of Residence Hall Students will also be holding elections through the Web site, Goodstein said.
