The candidates running for Student Council for the class of 2024 were amazing this year. The diversity and the participation of many students made it very amusing. But one thing I noticed was that many of the student candidates were using a sense of bribery and almost pleading with people to vote for them.

My issue with bribing with the use of food to get other students to vote, it just seems pretty unfair and quite desperate. Bring in snacks is great for the campaigns, don’t get me wrong. But it looks like the candidates’ priorities that are bringing food are expressing a lack of focus on the candidate’s qualifications. If food is your main source of promoting yourself, it can divert attention away from what the candidate is capable of bringing to the table. This can lead to votes just being based on popularity rather than someone who might be experienced. 

Using food to gain votes is just another way of buying people’s votes which defeats the purpose of the elections. We want to vote for someone who we trust is capable of the role they’re running for. Not someone who just wants the road because they’re friends of friends. It creates an unfair advantage for candidates who can afford to provide more food. 

Not all students have the access or privilege to provide food to win over people’s votes. This creates inequality among the candidates who are running and makes a lot of them feel excluded. Everyone should feel equal when it comes to running for the same role. Not everyone can provide and that’s okay because it’s what you’ll contribute to the school community. 

Bringing in food can cause a distraction from what matters and what the school community needs. The focus on food overshadows the critical issues and ideas that should be addressed. Students may be more interested in the food instead of the bigger problems we have in school. Such as bullying, lack of school events, lack of school spirit, etc. Candidates need to understand the responsibilities and tasks of their role, not use them for a popularity boost. 

What we can do to ensure this doesn’t happen to any future elections, is schools need to make important guidelines considering the campaign activities. Excluding the distribution of food and focusing on one’s qualifications, ideas, and ability to represent the school effectively.