DHS and democracy
Jumbled lines of anxious students formed around the door of C-4 on Friday to vote. Student Government representatives called voters up one at a time to verify student IDs and cross off names with a bright pink highlighter. The students then marched into private voting booths in the back room of C-4 to vote. Afterwards they dropped their yellow ballots into a tall black box and received a congratulatory “Thanks for voting, champ!” and flashy ‘I Voted’ stickers from Student government members and advisor, Eric Morgan.
This voting process is new to DHS. In previous years, voting took place on the same day as the candidates’ speeches in an informal manner. Student Government members distributed ballots to 4th period classrooms and exercised no supervision over the voting process.
According to Hanna Jolkovsky, Student Government member and one of four candidates for the senior class presidency, the previous voting method led to abuse of the democratic process. Many students in the past took more than one ballot, or simply handed the ballots to their friends, thus disfiguring a fair election
“This way, it’s less of a popularity contest,” Jolkovsky said. “Only people who care about the candidates will get in line to vote…we get better results this way.”
Jolkovsky also said that the new voting policy also mimics how ‘we will vote in real life.’
“Nobody will hand you a ballot,” she said, “You have to show up and wait in line if you want to vote.”
