ASB elections run smoothly with biggest turnout in history

This year saw the largest turnout in recent history with 712 students, or 79% of eligible, non-senior voters casting a ballot for 2022-23 ASB officers. 

Junior Mason Wang was elected as president, junior Julian Berkowitz-Sklar as vice president, junior Anand Agrawal as treasurer, sophomore Taylor Chu as secretary and junior Avani Kongetira as the clubs commissioner. 

Almost all campaigning occurred through social media, especially on Instagram. Many candidates increased their campaign content this year, making multiple videos and graphics, whereas previous candidates typically had just one video and graphic. For example, junior Allison Tan, who ran for ASB president against Wang, created a graphic inspired by the Marvel Spiderman comics to detail her accomplishments and passions under an alter ego “Silk.”

Agrawal, who ran unopposed, is the current ASB treasurer. Previously, current ASB officers would not be allowed to run for the same position; however, ASB recently passed an amendment to the constitution that allowed the ASB treasurer to run for office for two consecutive years, Wang said. 

“The ASB treasurer position is highly specialized, and allowing an existing treasurer to hold the position again would greatly increase ASB productivity and decrease time in training a new treasurer each year,” Wang said.

For next year, incoming ASB officers plan to focus on a multitude of issues, including working with the district to add feminine hygiene products into the school restrooms and reimplementing daily tutorials. In addition, Wang hopes to implement more school-wide events like the Turkey Trot and provide more resources through the wellness center to ease academic pressure. However, in order to pursue these initiatives, more funding is required.

“We also are attempting door-to-door fundraising in a couple of weeks to help return our budget back to normal,” Wang said.

Because many of the officers are already friends outside of leadership, Wang believes their chemistry will propel them to be more efficient and productive.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better group of officers,” Wang said. “I am definitely looking forward to a year with them.”

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This year’s election saw the largest turnout in recent history with 712 students, or 79% of eligible, non-senior voters casting a ballot for 2022-23 ASB officers. 

Junior Mason Wang was elected as president, junior Julian Berkowitz-Sklar as vice president, junior Anand Agrawal as treasurer, sophomore Taylor Chu as secretary and junior Avani Kongetira as the clubs commissioner. 

Agrawal, who ran unopposed, is the current ASB treasurer. Previously, ASB officers weren’t allowed to run for a second term in the same position; however, ASB recently passed an amendment that allowed the ASB treasurer to run for office for two consecutive years, Wang said. 

“The ASB treasurer position is highly specialized, and allowing an existing treasurer to hold the position again would increase ASB productivity and decrease [training time],” Wang said.

For next year, incoming ASB officers plan to work with the district to provide feminine hygiene products in the school restrooms, reimplement daily tutorials, host more school-wide events like Turkey Trot and provide more wellness center resources to ease academic pressure. 

Because many of the officers are already friends outside of leadership, Wang believes their chemistry will propel them to be more productive.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better group of officers,” Wang said. “I am definitely looking forward to a year with them.”