With a platform of mandatory bike helmets for ASSU officials, Senator Palpatine is mounting his second write-in campaign for Senate office. Palpatine, who finished in 35th place with 152 votes last year, announced his candidacy in an e-mail to students last Thursday.

Palpatine, a coterminal student in computer science, is one of the more experienced candidates seeking office, having previously served as Dark Lord of the Sith, Galactic Emperor and Senator of Naboo. He also made the number three spot in Wizard magazine’s “100 Greatest Villains of All Time” list.

Palpatine said he was motivated to run for “absolute power” and “excellence,” and is lobbying for a new “chamber” for the Senate, which currently meets in the Nitery.

“[The Nitery’s] lack of stadium-style seating and floating platforms makes it look like somewhat of a joke, frankly,” Palpatine wrote in an e-mail to The Daily.

A fan of totalitarian rule, he is strongly against both the new Senate coalitions and the slates running for executive.

“While I am pleased with the [Students With Experience] coalition’s anger — it gives them focus, makes them stronger — ‘coalition’ sounds a lot like ‘alliance,’ and alliances are to be crushed,” he said.

For Palpatine, the executive race holds no importance.

“It doesn’t matter — either they will join me, or they will be destroyed.”

— Marisa Landicho