For the first time in five years, Student Senate has split for their elections, with two current members running as party presidents and two independent candidates challenging the incumbents.

Janelle Nichols, chairwoman of the board of election, said the board is expecting a higher voter turnout this year because of the increase in candidates. Turnout in 2006 was about 400 votes.

“Just because there is more than one party and a few independent candidates I think we anticipate a little more,” Nichols said.

Tim Vonville, the presidential candidate for the TOGA party, explained his group’s platform as trying to address a variety of student concerns. TOGA stands for Together OU Students Gain Attention.

“We’re taking a look at the campus from a holistic perspective,” the junior political science major said. “Senate isn’t anything unless we can reach out to the individual students ... and represent them to the nth degree.”

Amanda Roder, Student Senate’s current university life commissioner, is running as TOGA’s vice presidential candidate and Will Wemer, Senate’s LGBT commissioner, is the party’s candidate for treasurer.

This year’s election is the first in five years in which the current senate split, Vonville said.

Other senate members are running for the Pulse party, led by presidential candidate Patrick Heery, senate’s academic affairs commissioner. Women’s Affairs Commissioner Lee Robbins is Pulse’s vice presidential candidate and Chris Diehl, residence life commissioner, is running for treasurer. Pulse also has candidates representing groups such as Students for a Democratic Society and Students for Effective and Accountable Leadership.

“I think (the split) is good,” Heery said. “We’ve really tried to bring in a whole variety of voices.”

Heery, a senior classics and English major, said the focus of his campaign will be shared governance, budget transparency and making the campus environmentally responsible. Vonville plans to explore retention problems and student life, in addition to pushing for more transparency and accountability in administrative decisions. Both candidates said they would be willing to work with but also stand up to the university’s administration.

Two other candidates, Will Klatt and Shane Tilton, are running as independents.

“I feel as though we need a representative student body,” said Klatt, who is also a member of SDS and SEAL. “And that we have the same people who have been running our Student Senate for a long time and they’ve been ineffective.”

Klatt, a sophomore media studies major, said he plans to address issues of accountability and student voice, including forming a popular assembly after the election to discuss the outcome of several ballot initiatives.

Tilton, a third-year cyber studies graduate student and current senator for Graduate Student Senate, said he decided to run to increase graduate representation on Student Senate.

“According to the constitution of Student Senate, they represent all students — undergraduate and graduate,” Tilton said. “I don’t think the graduate voice has been heard in the past.”

If elected, Tilton plans to encourage OU President Roderick McDavis to attend Student Senate meetings and institute a clear evaluation system for upper administration. He also hopes to end the party system in the senate. Tilton helped draft the ballot issue calling for a vote of confidence on McDavis and said that issue is more important to him than winning.

“Even if I don’t win, I still want this message to be heard and I think this is the best way to do that,” he said.

Debates for presidents and parties are May 1 and 8 at 6 p.m. in Baker University Center, and elections are May 17.