New voting system implemented for ASB and class elections

After about 20 percent of students voted last year, voter participation in this year’s ASB and class elections surged to almost 100 percent. The main reason for the overwhelming amount of ballots was a change made regarding the voting system this year. Instead of holding the elections on the stage in the courtyard throughout lunch like in previous years, students filled out their ballots during their history classes on April 3 and 4.

One of the reasons for changing the voting system was to make it more accessible to students.

“In Leadership, we made an amendment to change voting so that it would be more convenient for the students,” said Jane Hong, CVHS election commissioner. “It takes time out of their lunch to wait to vote so we decided to hold it in history classes.”

A need for more participation was another huge factor in altering the way the ASB elections have been run in the past.

Last year, about 600 out of the nearly 3,000 students attending CVHS took part in choosing their class officers. That’s roughly 20 percent of the population making the decisions for the entire school. There also wasn’t a huge turnout for this year’s sophomore primary elections; less than 200 out of the more than 760 students currently enrolled in the grade went up to the stage to vote.

Because of the very low involvement, Leadership hoped that having the elections during history classes would lead to more people partaking in the voting process and choosing the classmates they see fit to represent their grade.

“We wanted to encourage greater participation,” commented Nicholas Whitaker, CVHS Student Activities Coordinator. “Compare 200 people to 2,000. If 2,000 people voted, it makes the outcome more interesting.”

Hong also added, “Voting wasn’t mandatory for the students, but they have a voice in these elections and they should take advantage of that.”

Clearly, holding the ASB elections during history classes was a huge success. So will we be seeing more elections in history classes instead of out in the courtyard in the upcoming years?

“It’s all up to next year’s election commissioners,” Whitaker stated.