The four-person teams chose party names months ago; wrote mission statements weeks ago; and chalked the campus days ago.
Today they'll hang up signs and banners, tomorrow students will vote, and by Wednesday night they'll know if their hard work paid off.
The polls will be open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday. Fee-paying full-time undergraduates can vote in the Susquehanna Lounge, under the Lecture Hall, in the Glen Marketplace, and at the Newell Dining Hall.
They can also vote online at https://eballot3.votenet.com/towson/.
Election results will be announced at 5 p.m. Wednesday in the Potomac Lounge.
But even after the results are announced, the new SGA won't be able to approve next year's budget or appoint directors until a second election is held on May 1.
Only 10 students are running for 20 senator positions, and the organization needs a quorum of 14 senators to conduct business, SGA election commission chair Ankur Ponda said.
"We need more senators to get next year's senate up and running," he said.
Petitions will be available on Monday for a special election to select additional senators. They can be picked up in University Union Room 226.
In February, the SGA revised the election policy to require all senators to run independently of the executive board tickets.
At Wednesday's candidate debate, Vision vice presidential candidate Jenny Haley said the policy revisions have "proved to be a little bit of a failure" because of the lack of participation.
On Sunday, Vital FOUR presidential candidate McShane Murphey said next year's administration would "look at the downfalls" of the policy changes. He said it was too early to tell if changes are necessary.
Vision presidential candidate Patrick Dieguez called this year's experience a "good start" toward opening up the election process.
"It allowed a lot of people who wouldn't have considered [being a senator] to step up and run for the SGA," he said.
Both presidential candidates agreed that more awareness of the senator election process is crucial. Murphey and Dieguez have faced a new challenge this year: A $600 campaign-spending limit for each four-person team.
The current Senate approved the policy earlier this semester.
Ponda said the spending limit is "pretty much an honor system." Expense reports are due today. "We're really counting on the candidates to be honest," he said.
The tickets have taken two different approaches to campaigning. Vision has about 30 members of a "campaign party" wearing T-shirts and putting together signs supporting the candidates.
Vital FOUR is relying on the four members of its team to garner support for the ticket.
"We didn't need a campaign manager. We didn't need anybody else campaigning for us," Murphey said at the debate.
In the campaign, Vital FOUR has stressed its SGA leadership experience, since Murphey is the vice president of the current administration.
"We have experience and we have the knowledge to run student government to the best of our abilities," Murphey said.
Vision has pointed to its SGA experience, as well, but emphasized a commitment to move "beyond the basics" and reassess the organization's structure.
Dieguez, the current University Residence Government president, said he wants "to fine tune the SGA engine" and "see what works and what doesn't."
Over the weekend, both tickets expressed confidence about the elections.
On Sunday evening, Vision had topped Vital FOUR in one very informal category: Number of Facebook supporters.
About 240 students were members of "The Vision" group, while almost 160 were members of "Vote The Vital FOUR."
The campus will find out if Facebook friendships are a true gauge of popularity on Wednesday evening.
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