Junior Nathan Katzin announced Thursday that he plans to run for student body president.
Katzin said he had hoped to be included as a candidate on the ballot.
But after he missed the mandatory candidates' meeting Tuesday night, he said Board of Elections Chairwoman Emily Margolis told him he had to run as a write-in candidate.
Any new candidate entering the race has to follow this path -- students who missed the mandatory meeting are not eligible to be included on the ballot.
In the past, write-in candidates have occasionally made an impact on the race -- in 2000, a campaign to elect basketball player Brian Bersticker as a write-in candidate for student body president resulted in a third-place finish for Bersticker.
The last two Graduate and Professional Student Federation presidents, Thad Woody and Mikisha Brown, were elected as write-in candidates.
The other seven candidates who have officially declared their intentions to run for student body president are Correy Campbell, a junior from Waxhaw; Jen Daum, a junior from Pewaukee, Wis.; Fred Hashagen, a junior from Long Island, N.Y.; Bennett Mason, a junior from Meadville, Pa.; Will McKinney, a junior from Greenville, S.C.; Brad Overcash, a junior from Thomasville; and Charlie Trakas, a sophomore from Brevard.
Trakas was a write-in candidate in last year's student body elections.
