The first of the Homecoming Court Royal Four is crowned. Photo courtesy of freshman Gabe Jantos.
Homecoming week is one of the most iconic celebrations high schools and colleges have, and San Luis Obispo High School students had plenty of fun this year’s homecoming. As for the Homecoming election, each class had three homecoming nominees, with the students voting for one nominee from their same class as one of the Homecoming Court Royal Four. Although the election was entertaining to watch and to be a part of, one thing should be changed about the way voting was done.
Even though the QR code to vote was on signs and on TNN, there were still students who didn’t vote. Why? It actually took some effort to vote, with students needing to track down these resources without them really being given the time to vote in class.
“I would estimate twenty percent of the student body voted in the google form asking for nominees. I do not have access to the amount that voted in the second round determining the Royal Four,” said senior and Activities Commissioner who helped plan Homecoming week Gia Anselmo.
Freshman Henry Knight describes what he thought of the voting process.
“I found figuring out where and how to vote a little confusing,” said Knight. “We had to find the QR codes around the school or type in the actual URL.”
These ways of voting weren’t all that hard, but they were inconvenient. Some might argue that using QR codes as the main way to vote was nice and easy, with students being able to vote with their phones at any time and place. But in reality, not all students have phones, so voting was much harder for these students in particular.
“I think that there should just be a Google form [and] class time to [vote] when we watch TNN,” said freshman and one of the Homecoming Court Royal Four Gabe Jantos.
In any election, no matter how big or small, voters should be able to vote with ease. Otherwise, some demographics, in this case students without phones to scan QR codes, can end up being left. Next year, voting should be done in class to make sure that all students can take advantage of the right to vote, even if it is just for the annual Homecoming election.