Walking around the building of Townsend Harris High School can lead to the following realization: the annual election for the Student Union (SU) Executive Board positions has arrived. Prior to the elections, candidates put up posters for their campaigns all over the school. Most campaign material presented a candidate’s name, countenance, the position they were running for, and a catchy or powerful campaign slogan.

This year, the SU Primary Election took place on April 12. Students were given access to a ballot designated for their grade, allowing them to vote online as long as they were logged onto a device using their THHS Google account. Positions with three or more candidates were narrowed down to the top two candidates based on the votes cast by the student body, and the two candidates who received the most votes for each position advanced to the final round of elections.

After the results of the Primary Election, THHS students learned that juniors Salima Ali and Max Kurant are competing for the position of SU President. Juniors Xuan Lin and Jessica Brite are running for the position of Treasurer, and juniors Tenzin Kalden and Pooja Suganthan are rivals for Secretary. The candidates for Club Liaison are juniors Ilma Aamir and Brenden Picioane, and juniors Alyssa Nepomuceno and Alexandra Rosca are contenders for the position of Senior Class President. Sophomores Sharon Li and Zuzanna Pula are challengers for the position of Freshman-Sophomore Class President.

Meanwhile, other candidates are unrivaled in their campaigns, such as junior Michelle Lee and sophomore Annlin Su who are on their paths to obtain the titles SU Vice President and Junior Class President, respectively. Others include: sophomore Ava Nabatkhoran for Public Relations, junior Christopher Thomas for Senior Student Leadership Team (SLT), sophomore Annie Lin for Junior SLT, sophomore Hisham Issak for Junior Borough Student Advisory Council (BSAC), and junior Aresha Parjohn for Senior BSAC.

After experiencing the THHS elections process for the first time, freshmen have observed how the campaigns and elections were run. In particular, Freshman Madison Bitna stated, “I think it is good in a way that it is like real life elections with campaign managers and even using the Internet to aid them.” However, she added, “In the debate, the candidates should have had an extra half a minute at least to get their ideas through.”

The next step in the election process is the general election, which will occur tomorrow, April 26. The period between the debate and the final election seemed too short to some students, such as Madison, who remarked, “The students need a little bit more time [to reflect on the debate], like an extra week or so.” Nevertheless, students will be able to create the final roster of the SU Executive Board by casting their ballots online from 7:00 AM to 10:00 PM.

Photo courtesy of Ms. Oberlander