There’s a first time for everything. This year was the first time in a decade that voting for ASB officers took place in the quad. Almost three hundred students voted in the election.

Junior Haley Zarrin was elected president along with sophomore David Mandell as vice president, junior Annie Lee as treasurer, junior Cindy Chang as secretary and junior Natalie Tkalcevic as board representative. The ASB has now begun the process of choosing commissions. The newly elected officers hope to increase student representation and improve the school environment in the coming.

The ASB utilized the quad this year to set up optional voting booths instead of handing out ballots to every second or fifth period classroom. Zarrin was one of the current ASB members who supported this change in voting procedures.

“The voting in the quad actually eliminated the people who randomly vote,” said Zarrin. “Only people who actually cared and took the time to vote [cast their ballot].”

Zarrin said this system enhanced the efficiency and quality of the election process and gave students a more accurate understanding of how voting really works in the world.

“[Voting] has become optional; that’s how it is in the United States anyway,” said Zarrin. “People can choose whether or not they want to exercise their right.”

Others, such as Chang, however, disliked the new method.

“A lot of people will vote for you in class, but they won’t go out of their way and vote for you [in the quad],” said Chang. “There’s too little publicity and people don’t even know about it.”

Chang also feels that optional voting in the quad makes organizing the votes harder for the ASB candidates and the elections commission.

“The members of the elections commission had to work even harder than usual,” said Chang. “In addition, it’s too pressuring for candidates, as they would be watching the string of votes come in and feel overly nervous.”

Despite differing opinions on the ASB’s change in voting procedures this year, the election ran smoothly.