When students see the hallways decorated with vibrant posters and slogans spread through the school, they know it’s that time of year again. The signing of candidacy forms, rumors of the names of popular candidates, and various forms of propaganda are all factors that signal the coming of Student Council and Class Government Elections. Students will see the resurgence of this during campaign week beginning on April 28 and ending on election day, May 8. With more than 15 people running for various positions, elections will be noticeably more competitive this year.

“Tensions will be high this year, but it will also be fun,” sophomore Annie Wang said. “I am running for junior class president with my friend Anna Qi as vice president. We both have lots of competition, but it’s still a fun process campaigning.”

This year, elections have taken a new turn. After searching ways other Student Council elections are run in the nation, Vicki Renfro, the current Student Council sponsor, decided to remodel the process. The new method will include three parts: student body votes, an interview with current senior officers and teacher recommendations.

“This new process is to allow those who are not Mr. or Ms. Popular to still have a chance to be a part of StuCo or StuGov,” Renfro said. “The interview process also lets us know what the student thinks face-to-face, not just what their peers think or what they write on paper.”

Panel interviews will take place from May 5 to May 9. During that same week, Thursday will be online voting for the student body via school gmail accounts from 8 a.m to 5 p.m. Following the election of officers, those who wish to apply for committee chair positions will be able to do so by applying to the new president.