The online polls to vote for Homecoming court open Monday.

Voting officially opens at 12:01 a.m. and runs through 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday through a link off of the Homecoming website.

The court selection process began in early September.

Students are able to vote for four positions including Homecoming Queen, King, Prince and Princess.

The positions vary based upon how many credit hours a candidate has.

In order to be considered for Prince or Princess a student must have between 30 and 60 credit hours.

To be considered for King or Queen, a student must have 60 credit hours or more.

Danielle Gangas, a senior English major and co-chair on the University Board’s Homecoming Committee, heads organizing the election and coronation, which will take place Oct. 8.

Gangas said after students apply to be on court they go through a selection process that is run by faculty and staff members.

“We have an overall meeting at the beginning of the semester where we talk about the entire event, including court,” Gangas said. “That is where people get the application and find out the whole process.”

In order to run for Homecoming Court, a student must represent a Registered Student Organization and have a minimum grade point average of 2.5.

They also must be in good standing with the university.

After submitting an application, candidates went through a selection process and then a three-day interview process that was conducted by faculty and staff members who volunteered.

Gangas said the reason students, including the UB members, cannot be a part of the interview or handle the applications because they might tamper with them or show favoritism.

“If we worked with the applications we might come in contact with someone we know or one of our friends,” Gangas said. “We might be biased and that would affect the accuracy of the whole thing.”

Along the rules of who can help select the candidates, there are also rules about how long the candidates can campaign.

Gangas said campaigning ran Sept. 25-Oct. 1.

“We set a limit so students do not feel pressured during the voting process,” Gangas said.

In order to cast a vote, students must go to the homecoming website where there will be a link. They must enter their Eastern Net ID and password.

The ballot includes the names and pictures of the candidates for each position as well as what organization they represent.

Amy Wywialowski can be reached at 581-2812 or alwywialowski@eiu.edu.