This year, the SGA held a special election to elect students to two open positions: Senior Class Secretary and Sophomore Class Secretary. The election was open to any students interested in filling in the positions, including both SGA members and the entire student body. Both general students and SGA members were allowed to nominate candidates who they felt were deserving of these positions. There was an open forum in which students were allowed to attend and speak on behalf of themselves or on the behalf of any other students. After the forum, the doors were closed for the SGA members to vote on the most deserving candidate for each position.

At the meeting itself, there were seven nominees for sophomore class secretary and five for the senior class position. Some of the nominees had themselves showed interest in running, while others were nominated without showing interest. After a few rounds of elimination and voting, Harshul Makwana was elected as Sophomore Class Secretary, while Ana Ioshpa was elected as Senior Class Secretary.

The guidelines and procedures for this special election are outlined in the Morris Hills Student Body Constitution, which was drafted the founding year of Morris Hills’ Student Government. The Constitution explicitly states that in a case in which no student runs for a student government position, the SGA should hold a special election to determine who should fill that position. The election is designed such that students themselves can voice their opinions on the different candidates and nominate students worthy of the position. Mr. Mein, the SGA adviser, hopes that the election would model a democratic town hall meeting, where students can openly discuss the qualifications of the candidates and what would be best for the student body. He also discussed that although it is an interesting process to witness and conduct, the special election brings to light the lack of interest in running for elected positions within the student body. Mr. Mein does wish that there were more students who showed interest in running for office this year, although he does appreciate that there is already a procedure outlined for such a case in the Constitution.