After two years of uncontested races at the top of the ticket, the 2023 election cycle will see three tickets vying for president and executive vice president (EVP). With polls opening on Wednesday, April 12, this year’s Undergraduate Student Government (USG) elections bring a renewed level of competition across the ballot. All ballots must be submitted online by Friday at 4 p.m.

Of the three tickets competing, two are composed of current USG members. USG EVP third-year Jefferson Lind is running with current Vice President (VP) of Advocacy Ariana Ukaonu, a second-year, as the Golden Slate Warriors ticket for president and EVP, respectively. Current VP of Student Affairs and third-year Julia Brestovitskiy is running for president on the upLIFT ticket, with Class of 2026 College Council Representative Elijah Jenkins running for EVP. On the Chicago for U ticket, second-year Benjamin Vacher is running for president and third-year Alexander Norton is running for EVP.

Lind, Ukaonu, and Brestovitskiy were all endorsed in their respective USG elections last year by the Editorial Board of The Maroon.

The election for trustee and faculty governance liaison is another contest between a current USG member and a newcomer. Third-year Evelyn Li, currently USG’s VP of campus life, is running against fellow third-year Jackson Lee, cofounder of the University’s robotics team, UChicago Robotics.

The elections for VP of advocacy, VP of student affairs, and VP of campus life are uncontested this year. College Council Representative for the Class of 2024 Nina Hafner is running for VP of Campus Life. Timothy Lu and Meera Dasgupta, who both serve as College Council representatives for the Class of 2026, are running for VP of advocacy and VP of student affairs respectively.

As for College Council, third-years Ash Arian, Darya Foroohar, Aman Majmudar, and Aaron Wineberg are running to be reelected to represent the Class of 2024. Second-year Aya Hamza is running for reelection to represent the Class of 2025. Since each class is entitled to five representatives on College Council, the elections to represent the Class of 2024 and the Class of 2025 in College Council are noncompetitive this year.

The election for the Class of 2026’s five seats on College Council has eight candidates. Dasgupta, Jenkins, and Lu, who are all currently Class of 2026 representatives, are also running for positions in USG’s cabinet. If they win both of their elections, they will choose which position they would like to hold, and any votes cast for them in the other race will be voided, with the top five remaining candidates winning seats to represent the Class of 2026.

Juan Simon Angel, another current Class of 2026 representative, is running solely for reelection. Candidates Sebastian Davis, Surya Chinnappa, Dariel Cruz Rodriguez, and Logan Toé do not currently hold elected positions within USG. Cruz Rodriguez is running as a write-in candidate.