Undergraduate Student Government is looking to fill vacant seats on the student senate in a fall special election.

Nominations are open until Sept. 28 via a form on UMBeInvolved. Current senators will vote to fill the seats before Oct. 3, when winners will be notified. According to UMBeInvolved, candidates must be undergraduate students who are in “good academic and disciplinary standing” with at least a 2.5 GPA.

If elected, senators are required to attend meetings from 3-4 p.m. each Wednesday, beginning Oct. 8.

In a statement, USG President Cristian Orellana encouraged students of all backgrounds, majors and years to run. Serving on USG allows students “to be an advocate or to be a voice for their fellow classmates,” he said. Orellana served as speaker of the student senate before he was elected president in April.

In the April general election, five candidates — Abigail Cummings, Annie Kebadze, Sarah Wilkinson, Linzie Truong and Kayla Cadet — were elected to the student senate with 215, 197, 186, 167 and 136 votes respectively. All of the candidates ran unopposed. Abigail Raymond received 179 votes for Senate, but will not serve because she was elected student trustee.

This year’s election featured significantly fewer candidates than recent years, despite higher voter turnout, with 307 students casting ballots. In the 2024 general election, 28 candidates ran for student senate and students cast 283 votes. In 2023, 198 students voted in an election with 19 candidates on the ballot, each running unopposed.