Voting commenced yesterday at 9 a.m. in the Student Government Spring election. As of 6 p.m., over 500 students had voted online, according to Ian Marlier, the Election and Rules (E&R) Committee Chair and a fourth-year in the College.

“Given the way SG elections have run in the past, I would guess that voter turnout will run somewhere around 3,000 students,” Marlier said. He also suggested that the number should increase significantly after yesterday afternoon’s e-mail reminding the student body to vote. Last year, 1,684 students voted in the Spring SG election, up 292 from the previous year.

According to Marlier, the elections were run more casually than in the past few years, and the candidates have run clean campaigns. “Candidates were asked to notify E&R of any violations by other slates, but to try to work any problems out cooperatively, and they have done so,” Marlier said. “I have been impressed with the maturity and spirit of all the candidates as they have worked through complaints about one another.”

Students can vote at sg.uchicago.edu. The election ends on Wednesday afternoon.