In an attempt to step out of the shadows of the two remaining Student Government tickets, a few proudly independent candidates are vying for votes in Wednesday’s elections.

Though most candidates join a ticket because they say it makes campaigning easier due to pooled funding and more visibility, some choose to run independently because they think the benefits of forming their own platform outweigh the resources a ticket provides.

Holden Wright — a 28-year-old civil engineering freshman running for University Center for the Freshman Year senate — is one of these independent candidates.

Wright said he chose to run without joining a ticket because the election code’s rules against announcing a candidacy before a designated date did not allow him to find out which tickets were available.

“I didn’t know who else was running,” Wright said. “A girl in my English class is running, and I didn’t know because you can’t announce your candidacy early. Had I known, we could have formed our own ticket.”

Wright’s candidacy is also a protest against what he thinks is an election code that favors the Greek system.

“The way the rules are written gives fraternities and sororities an advantage because they have closed meetings where they can discuss a person’s candidacy and their intent to form a ticket,” Wright said. “It’s not fair that the Greek system decides the voice the campus hears.”

Wright said he is using a “grassroots approach” to compete with the “Making It Happen” and the “In Focus” tickets.

“The best way to campaign is to do it those last two days,” Wright said. “It’s just me out there, talking to people, handing out fliers and spreading my ideas.”

Wright said his age and work experience give him a unique perspective that might appeal to voters who do not want to vote for a ticket.

“I have run a night club and managed a restaurant, so I know how to achieve goals and how to get the money to do so,” Wright said. “I’m not someone just out of high school, so I can come up with plausible ideas based on what I know.”

Jennifer Bowman, an English freshman running for UCFY president, said she did not want to join a ticket because she does not agree with either ticket’s stance on issues such as parking.

“To me, it seems that when you’re on a ticket, you have to be more loyal to the ticket and not the people who are voting,” she said. “We want to find a compromise between the two big tickets — a more moderate approach to problems.”

Her sister, Emilie Bowman, an international studies freshman running for UCFY vice president, said that students should have more input in how problems are addressed on campus.

“We want to listen to what freshmen want,” Emilie Bowman said. “We want to see more opinion polls so we can see what the freshmen want.”

Benjamin Couhig, an English sophomore, started campaigning as an independent candidate but joined the “In Focus” ticket because he said he did not have enough time to run on his own.

“You can run on an independent ticket and be successful, but to have a shot, I’d have to be out campaigning every day,” Couhig said. “It was too big a commitment for me to handle [on my own].”

Couhig said a ticket has several benefits in addition to being less time-consuming.

“A ticket allows you to join a platform and to pool financial resources to reach a common goal,” Couhig said.

Danielle Wheeler, campaign manager for “Making It Happen,” said a ticket allows a candidate to receive more visibility on campus.

“When you join a ticket, you have to pay a fee,” Wheeler said. “Those fees go to buy buttons, banners, fliers and individual campaign posters so you can have a better chance at getting your name out there.”

Though he admits it will be hard to defeat the larger tickets he is up against, Wright said he has a positive outlook on his campaign because the feedback he has received has been encouraging.

“Everyone loves an underdog,” Wright said. “I’m just doing the best I can to spread my view to the students.”