Student Senate gave updates on the voter registration events, mental health events and the Student Senate election at its meeting Wednesday night.

The “EIU Votes” tabling event will be held Feb. 17 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. outside the Food Court of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.

Executive Vice President Kathleen Conlin said the purpose for the tabling event is to give students the opportunity to vote by providing registration papers both for Illinois and non-Illinois residents.

“There’s a lot of students on campus who aren’t registered, and so that’s one of my main focuses this semester is getting a lot of students to register and then educating them,” Conlin said.

The next election day for Illinois is the General Primary Election on March 17, which is during Eastern’s spring break, so Conlin said she wants to educate students on where they can vote during spring break and how to vote early if they will be gone.

She said she also wants to educate students on the election process in general because she said a lot of students do not know about the whole process either.

Conlin encouraged all students to register and vote, especially in this election.

“There’s a lot of negativity going around right now, and I think the way to change that is to vote,” she said. “That’s something that we all can do  … just getting out there and registering and just using our voices … and just making the change one step at a time.”

Student Body President Carson Gordon gave updates on the upcoming Student Senate election and her plans for the semester with the Health Education Resource Center as part of her mental health awareness agenda.

The election details are still being finalized, Gordon said, and the packets are being reviewed by adviser Ceci Brinker, graduate adviser Sophia Sarver and Student Life Office administrative clerk Laurel Fuqua.

She said as of right now, she is looking at having informational meetings March 3 and March 5 for those who are interested in running for Student Senate positions. March 9 is a tentative date for candidate meetings.

With the HERC, Gordon said there will be minority mental health panel in March, though the date is still to be determined.

Vice President of Academic Affairs Noor-ul-Haash Khamisani updated the Senate on the “Prowlin’ with the Prez” event to be held the last week of February.

The first event will be Feb. 24 in the Food Court of the University Union, Feb. 25 will be in Stevenson Hall, Feb. 26 will be in Taylor Hall and Feb. 27 will be in Thomas Hall.

Hannah Shillo can be reached at 581-2812 or hlshillo@eiu.edu.