It’s that time of year. Associated Students elections are on Wednesday and it’s time to figure out who to vote for.

A.S. Government Affairs at Chico State run an annual election that includes student officials who are elected by the students.

The main purpose of this association is so students are able to have their voices heard and promote change on campus.

“I think that it is really cool that Chico State holds this student-run election because it gets freshman like myself involved,” said Ricky Marques, a freshman. “I feel motivated to participate because I feel like I have a voice on campus. I am currently in FLO which helped me become aware of this in the first place.”

“I currently serve as your Associated Students President and previously served as executive vice president as well as commissioner of student organizations and programs,” said Alisha Sharma, one of the A.S. presidential nominees. “I would really encourage students to come out and listen to the candidates, meet with them, ask them questions and understand why they should vote for them.”

In addition, to that, I would encourage other students to do the same and vote next Wednesday (April 18). Students should receive a link to their Wildcat email. It is extremely important to me that we have diverse students and all students participating in the vote,” Sharma said.

Every student has $15 that they already paid through their activity fee to allocate for revenue sharing, they are able to split that three ways, two ways or just one way by giving it to one organization on campus.

There is over 150 organizations to choose from, so I would encourage students to do that and vote on the advisory measure on the ballot. There are a lot of ways to be involved in civic engagement around your campus.

“CSU Chico holds one of the highest voter turnouts in the CSU system but we can always do better,” Sharma said. “It is really important to me that students just go out there and vote in general. I would love for students to go out and meet me personally so I can not only inform them more about my platform but also hear their voices and stories.”

“The reason why I am running for this position, is because I want to make students aware of the resources that are here at Chico State that can help them succeed academically. Along with the careers in this community to make Chico State better as a whole,” said James Ryan, candidate for senator of the college of business.

Don’t miss out on this opportunity in building your active voice on campus. Voting begins April 18, and although it’s not mandatory, you should participate.

“I think this election is super cool especially since Associated Students runs events that allow us to meet the candidates which provide students with the opportunity to learn more about the election,” said Isela Rodriguez, a freshman.

Danielle Cortes can be reached at the [email protected] or @theorion_news on Twitter.