Posters bearing doctored photos and funny one-liners still line entryways and lampposts while the remaining candidates for the freshman class offices of president, vice president, treasurer, secretary and social chair await election results.
The initial polls closed yesterday afternoon, after candidates completed a week of campaigning to set themselves apart in a broad field of 36 prospective officers. The USG will hold runoffs for the five positions starting noon today (see related story).
"We're thrilled to see so many people running," USG vice president Rob Biederman '08, who served as an election manager for the freshman class elections, said. "I've never seen so many posters. From the expense accounts we've received, it seems like most candidates made nearly the maximum of 400 posters."
"All of the candidates seem committed, and I'm sure that they will go on to make good USG officers," Biederman added.
Besides submitting photos and statements that voters perused on the USG website, candidates employed diverse strategies to gain support in the week leading up to the election.
"I tried to make creative posters, and get out and meet people," presidential candidate Anna Peng '10 said. "It was a good experience."
Other hopefuls — like presidential candidate Jeremy Wolos '10 and vice presidential candidate Rohan Patil '10 — merged their campaigns into tickets to coordinate their efforts.
Patil said that the advantages of running together included overlapping constituencies and a larger campaign budget. "It was definitely more fun putting up signs at [3 a.m.] with someone around for company," he said in an email. With a joint campaign, Patil added, he and Wolos could gear their election towards "making strong bonds with about 200 people and not just greeting 1,200."
Phoebe Jin '10, one of three candidates for secretary, started a website with campaign and contact information, as well as a list of supporters.
"I had representatives in each residential college because people tend to know others in their college better," Jin said. "It helps people identify with the campaign." She added that the entire process was "well-organized, with nothing nasty."
Jacob Kosior '10, who ran for social chair, made an effort to create a campaign that reflected his enthusiasm for the position.
"I have met a lot of great people at Princeton already and mainly used word of mouth for my campaign," Kosior said in an email. "As for my posters, I tried to be somewhat comical, popping my Princeton T-shirt, showing that I was running because I wanted to have fun with the position and make class events a good time."
Laura Shu '10, a candidate for treasurer, "blinged up" a photo to catch the attention of prospective voters. "I hoped that the humor would differentiate myself from the other candidates," she said in an email.
The candidates said that even if they don't win, their campaigning has paid dividends. "Even though this took me many, many hours to plan and accomplish, I was rewarded by meeting so many new people," presidential candidate Connor Diemand-Yauman '10 — who is competing in a runoff today — said in an email. "I sincerely enjoyed the whole process."
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