Homecoming Court Elections: Fundamentally Flawed but Actually Acceptable

Voting for the royal vikings isn’t all peaches and cream, but it’s good enough
Kelsey Ichikawa | Staff Writer
I like the concept of the Homecoming Court. It’s one of those traditions that completes the archetypal American high school experience, and not to mention it’s the cutest thing EVER to watch during the rally. But there are inherent challenges to planning a fair vote for the Homecoming King and Queen.
Although students who are familiar with the candidates can put in genuine consideration, for those who are acquainted with few to none of the candidates, it’s difficult to make a decision. There isn’t really a solid definition of a Homecoming King and Queen—Are they the paragons of Vikinghood, models of the 4 school-wide outcomes? Or exemplars of academic achievement? Or maybe they’re people we admire and like being around? Perhaps the coolest kids on campus, the ones with so-called swag? And the voting quandary only intensifies with the question— If I’ve never even met these people, how do I vote for someone who fits this ambiguous criteria? Predictably, rather than suffer the mental exertion of debating all these questions, most of us, myself included, just vote for the candidates we’ve heard of or who our advisory neighbors tell us to vote for. Hence, Homecoming Court elections develop a reputation for being a popularity contest.
According to Lindsey Yuan, ASB elections commissioner, the elections committee is considering replacing the old system with a blind vote that would not include the names and pictures of candidates but rather a written response from each of them. It’s a noble concept that would essentially eliminate the popularity factor in the voting process, but ultimately, I think it would open a whole new can of worms. Using written representations of the candidates means that the school’s decision will be at least partially founded on the candidates’ writing abilities because better writers are usually more persuasive in their techniques. Effective writing skills should not be a criteria for choosing a Homecoming King and Queen. What’s more, it would be easy for someone to misrepresent him/herself using the written word.
But honestly, most people who are popular are well-known around the school for a reason—they’re social, congenial people we like to be around. Is it such a terrible thing that the Homecoming elections are part popularity contest? To me, the image of a Homecoming King and Queen is of someone who is well-liked and applauded by their classmates, which popularity often entails. In my time at Irvington, I’ve never come across a candidate who I thought didn’t deserve to be on the ticket. And it’s not like voting for ASB commissioners, in which you have to judge how well a person could execute the role of the officer position. The Homecoming King and Queen are representatives of Irvington, but they don’t have to do anything outside the football game.
So the system is messed up. But maybe it’s the best we can do

. 22.1 opinions HC pic