Election Info

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Election Information

Mid-may, we have the SMS President election. The following week, we will open up voting for the secretary and treasurer. Presidential candidates must submit a written statement and give a campaign speech on election day (3 mins maximum). Secretary and treasurer candidates will not give speeches but will submit written statements, which will be attached to the ballot. 

Presidential candidates are asked to choose two different running mates. For example, Joe Magnant can run with Natalie Sheeler and Anna Botsford as vice president. A typical election may look like the following:

President/Vice:

• Magnant/Botsford

• Magnant/Sheeler

• Sheeler/Magnant

• Sheeler/Young

• Young/Briggs

• Young/Sheeler

• Briggs/Morales

• Briggs/Magnant

Volunteers are always appreciated: refreshments and snacks are great to have! 

Attention: Current seniors are allowed to vote! You are our experienced musicians and your voice matters!

Agenda for the election meeting:

• Welcome: Statement from the current SMS officer

• Overview: Mr. Magnant discusses officer responsibilities and SMS goals for the 2023-2024 school year

• Presidential speeches (3 mins max each) 

• Current seniors are offered time to make voluntary statements 

• Election ballot shared via Google Form. Voting will close Sunday at 8pm. 

• Results will be announced on the following Monday, by Mr. Magnant.

FYI: Votes for President will not be split based on the Vice President. For example, if "Magnant/Sheeler" gets 5 votes and "Magnant/Bostford" gets 5 votes, "Magnant" will receive 10 votes. In that particular example, "Magnant" will pick the vice president because the vice president was a tie. Election results/information will be limited to who won the election. Tallies will not be shared as well as wether or not the President picked the vice president in the case of a tie. 

Presidential Candidates submit their written statements using this template no later than a week before the election.

Rank-Choice Voting

Ballots are rank-choice. SMS Members choose 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th choices for President/Vice President. 

If you want to know why we are using rank-choice voting, read the example below. Because we have more than two candidates on the ballot, rank-choice ensures a proper leader is elected.

Let's say that 20 people are trying to decide on a pizza order.

• 5 people want a pepperoni pizza, but would be fine with a plain cheese pizza, and do not want an anchovy pizza. 

• 5 people want a cheese pizza, but would be fine with a mushroom pizza, and do not want an anchovy pizza.

• 4 people want a mushroom pizza, but would be fine with a cheese pizza, and do not want an anchovy pizza.

• 6 people want an anchovy, but would be fine with a cheese pizza, and do not want a pepperoni pizza. 

With normal voting, anchovies win because 6 people voted for anchovies vs. 5 for pepperoni, 5 for cheese, and 4 for mushrooms. However, 14 out of the 20 people did not want anchovies at all. 

With rank-choice voting, cheese wins because 5 people wanted cheese, and 15 people said they would be fine with cheese, but an overwhelming majority of people did not want anchovy pizza.