At the start of the school year, everyone votes for their classmates’ roles and waits to see who the winner is. But who runs this election? why do we have this election? and what do the winners do? The election is a complex operation that takes multiple people to run, students play a big part in it without even knowing.
The voting process
The elections are set up and organized by the senior class sponsors. A sponsor is a teacher or staff member who oversees the results. All grades get a sponsor, whilst seniors get two co-sponsors. The senior class sponsors are librarian, Ms. Wright and math teacher, Ms. Lenoir. The election takes place at the start of the school year. Only seniors can participate in their election, and there is no limit on who can vote; so anyone can cast a ballot, regardless of grades or attendance.
This year, the election process was done during seniors’ English classes. They submitted a response on a Google form and the responses were counted when everyone made their choice. Every vote was examined and non-valid votes were deleted. According to Mrs. Wright the co-sponsor of the senior class, “If the response was not done by a senior, that response was deleted. If they were not done in their English class, it was deleted, and any double responses were deleted.” Once the ballots were tallied up, the seniors with the most votes won and got the positions.
The candidates
Only seniors can run for their class officer position. These officers decide what happens during the senior year. According to Wright, “Class officers meet regularly and they decide the theme, come up with the shirt for the class of 2025, the class songs, organize the end of the year field trips and put out those decisions for the senior class to vote on.” If seniors want to be a class officer they have to put in an application and state what position they wish to run for. They can only run for one position, and there are some requirements on who can run. We do look at grades, but they don’t have to be straight A’s, just passing. We also look at attendance as well as behavior.” Runners can also do many things for their campaign. Some examples include: hanging up posters, posting on social media, and telling classmates, while some even hand out stickers. Though the candidates are not restricted to the examples listed, anything they can think of within reason, they are able to do.
The president
The highest student officer position is the president. This year’s senior president is Connor Anda, who helps with the decision-making. As Anda says, “I help pick the themes for homecoming and prom, and I help coordinate the senior field trips. I also help with the T-shirts, and I speak at graduation.” However, it’s not just the president making all of the decisions. There are four other positions also helping out. They all have their own special jobs that help the senior class. According to Anda, “The historian keeps track of what happens this year, our secretary keeps track of minutes and keeps everything organized. The two vice presidents are jacks-of-all trades; they are the decision makers if im not there.”
Anyone can be the president if they try hard enough. All you need is a good and creative campaign. Additionally Anda states, “I didn’t have time to make posters so I couldn’t do that. Me and two of my buddies made a campaign video the night before the election and showed it to our classes. My campaign slogan was ‘I will take no bribes and accept no bribes.’”
What happens now?
Now that the election is over, what will the winners do? This is answered by Anda’s claim as he states “It is really early in the year, so I am focusing on the things already laid out. I hope that if something comes up that I can help with, I can be a voice for the people.” They are also looking forward to many things this school year. According to Anda, “I’m really looking forward to the memories, and I really like the responsibility. It’s not only fun, but it gives me something to work and strive for.” The elections have given the students a voice and let them choose what they want. Madison is in good hands because they picked solid student officers.
Special thanks Mrs. Wright and Connor Anda