A Vote for Better Voting

From the Executive Board to the class representative, during spring term, the Student Council holds elections for various positions in the upcoming year’s council. During the election period, candidates campaign to earn student votes, and ultimately surpass their competitors in the election. While their efforts and desire to serve as influential members of the student population is commendable, the informality and the lack of boundaries of the current campaign process often lead to candidates’ immature actions for the means of victory, which consequently culminates an unprofessional election system.Every year, posters of individual candidates cover all bulletin boards of campus buildings, an inevitable scene during election season because posters are an effective and fair means of advertising. During this year’s campaign period, however, some candidates, or friends of those candidates, decided to take down their opponents’ posters during the campaign season. Some wrote obscenities and mockeries on the posters, degrading the candidate on the posters.Whoever took down or wrote on the posters presumably believed that by taking down the posters or by ridiculing other candidates, he or she would increase a different candidate’s, or possibly his or her own, chance of winning the election. Maybe it was out of the dislike of a certain candidate, or out of pure entertainment. Whatever the reasoning may be, their actions can only be characterized as immature and incompetent.Another flaw can be found during the candidate speech Assemblies. Although Exeter emphasizes goodness and respect among all students, this year’s candidate speeches, especially some of the secretary speeches, did not embody goodness, but rather ignorance. One candidate ridiculed another during his speech, attempting to gain the votes through unnecessary humor, just like one would do in a popularity contest. While it is true that incidents like these occur frequently in politics around the world, as students of an institution that values respect and goodness, we should all strive to focus on the positives.Quite frankly, it is a little embarrassing that students act in such an immature and ignorant behavior. Although Exeter is just a high school, we are old enough to act respectfully and accordingly, with maturity and respect. If a student were truly qualified for a position, he or she would not need to take down his or her rivals’ posters, write disrespectful messages, or ridicule one’s opponents while giving a speech. Rather, the individual will focus on one’s own campaigns, value the fair competition and outline his or her strengths and capabilities in order to procure votes during speeches.While StuCo deserves respect and appreciation from the student body for their service, there are some policies that they should create in order to improve the election process. For example, StuCo could enforce what would read along the lines of, “Any candidate who hinder other candidates’ campaigns through unfair methods, such as mockery, humiliation, or taking down posters will not be allowed to participate in the election.” Although it might initially sound forceful, it will at least create an environment where candidates can compete fairly and equally.Ultimately, the StuCo elections and campaign procedures need improvements. In order to create a level ground for all future candidates, students need to be encouraged and reminded to display fair play, and StuCo should devise a plan to aid candidates and prevent incidents like the ones that transpired this election season.