On February 8, Choate held its first-ever fully virtual Student Council election. In previous years, students not only listened to candidates’ speeches in-person in the Paul Mellon Arts Center (PMAC) or Colony Hall, but they also filled out their ballots in the dining hall. This year, however, both parts of the election procedure were conducted online to accommodate remote learners and social distancing guidelines. Following the 36-hour voting period, Abby Lu ’22 and Gavin Doak ’22 were elected President and Vice-President, respectively.
Despite the challenges posed by virtual voting, there were some benefits that came with the new format. “Online voting resulted in a higher turnout rate because it’s more convenient,” said Lu. “People don’t have to walk to the dining hall anymore.”
Also, for some candidates, sending in a prerecorded video was less nerve-racking than standing behind a lectern in front of the student body. “Public speaking can be intimidating for many,” Lu said. “Hopefully, that video aspect took away the intimidation.”
For Lu, however, interacting with the crowd and feeding off its energy inspires her public speaking. Likewise, Ula Lucas ’21, the current Student Body President, found it “quite awkward” to record her speeches throughout the year because there was no way to tell how the audience was receiving the content.
Tom Sun ’22 found this year’s voting experience to be very different from last year’s. A “virtual format provides candidates more options to showcase their skills and goals, but in-person presentations can be more engaging with the voters,” he said.
The election’s virtual format also led to some technical issues; soon-to-be-graduating seniors, who traditionally do not vote in student council elections, were able to cast votes. “The link was sent out to all Choate students, and some people reported voting more than once,” said Lucas. “However, in the final count, every student only received up to one vote per candidate, and seniors’ votes were not counted.”
Some members of the community believe that seniors should be allowed to vote in the election for president and vice president. “Having seniors as part of the process makes it more objective and less of a popularity contest,” said Hannah McMurtrie ’21.
On the other hand, many on campus fear that seniors would not vote sincerely in an election that determines student leaders beyond their graduation. “Since the result has no effect on the seniors, they might turn to cast joke ballots that do not benefit the community,” Lu said, explaining a concern that she, herself, does not hold.
Lucas predicted, “Since we have the data this year to see how the senior class voted, it might be really interesting to see if our votes would have swayed the results in a significant manner. Depending on how that data ends up looking, there might be a stronger case for giving seniors the right to vote.”
Correction: April 5, 2021
An earlier version of this article misquoted Abby Lu ’22 in reference to the general worry that seniors would not vote sincerely in student council elections, if allowed to do so. Lu explained the concern and said that many members of the Choate community hold it; she did not say that she, herself, does.
