Student Council Election: Would You Vote For Your Friend?

[Infected Mushroom]

Please consider the following hypothetical:

So let's say you have a student council election at your school. The general consensus (except amongst the most politically active) is that the student council "doesn't really do anything."

You have five candidates running for student council president. Your best friend (who has SOME student council background) is running for the position but they are probably not the best qualified for the position. They are not bad, but someone is much "better."

There is a star candidate who is better at school work, has shown leadership in sports and school projects, is far more popular and has hung out with and appeals to all types of student crowds, has served in lower student council positions for longer than your friend (and to a much greater degree than your friend, very vocally and regularly participates in all deliberations and events).

Even though your friend knows they likely won't win, they would hope to get as many votes as they can though they have not attempted to pressure you into voting for them.

Your one vote is not going to really make a difference and out of the five candidates, it appears that this star candidate is more or less set up to win whichever way you vote (though can't necessarily be 100% sure).

Do you vote for your best friend and declare so as a sign of support ("help out your buddy?")? Or do you vote for this candidate instead?

What is your justification?

I believe in Loyalty. So I would vote for the best friend. Since the student council "doesn't do anything" (or hasn't really made itself feel impactful to me), I want to prioritise supporting and backing my friend, just as I would expect some degree of unconditional support and loyalty back from them.

[Czervenika]

If the student council had actual power then my vote would go to the star candidate without question. However, since that doesn't appear to be the case in this scenario then I would probably vote for my friend.

[Infected Mushroom]

If the student council had actual power then my vote would go to the star candidate without question. However, since that doesn't appear to be the case in this scenario then I would probably vote for my friend.

It does help on a limited scale, to organise and plan for school events and fundraisers and sometimes will lead awareness campaigns to promote certain school wide issues and pet causes.

However, it has no real power to contradict anything the administration wants and most of the time, they have to conform to whatever the administration wants.

...

It's just that to the regular day-to-day student, they "don't really care" about this sort of stuff. Most of the kids only care about sports, grades, and who likes who. Student council is often seen as extraneous though in reality, it does do some things. Now having said that, if it didn't exist, then some admin body made of grown-ups could more than happily take over (if they haven't already since a lot of student council operations are rubber stamped).

[The Military State of the Galapagos]

If the student council had actual power then my vote would go to the star candidate without question. However, since that doesn't appear to be the case in this scenario then I would probably vote for my friend.

It does help on a limited scale, to organise and plan for school events and fundraisers and sometimes will lead awareness campaigns to promote certain school wide issues and pet causes.

However, it has no real power to contradict anything the administration wants and most of the time, they have to conform to whatever the administration wants.

...

It's just that to the regular day-to-day student, they "don't really care" about this sort of stuff. Most of the kids only care about sports, grades, and who likes who. Student council is often seen as extraneous though in reality, it does do some things. Now having said that, if it didn't exist, then some admin body made of grown-ups could more than happily take over (if they haven't already since a lot of student council operations are rubber stamped).

Sounds like a puppet government

[Radiatia]

I don't think I ever once voted in a student council election when I was at school, and as for this word "friend" well I'm not sure what that means but I don't think I have one of those.

In an actual election I'd vote for whoever I think is best (as someone who knows people who ran for Parliament, etc.) but I wouldn't give a shit about a meaningless platitude at school. In fact for most of my time at high school you were lucky if I even bothered showing up.

[Infected Mushroom]

I don't think I ever once voted in a student council election when I was at school, and as for this word "friend" well I'm not sure what that means but I don't think I have one of those.

In an actual election I'd vote for whoever I think is best (as someone who knows people who ran for Parliament, etc.) but I wouldn't give a shit about a meaningless platitude at school. In fact for most of my time at high school you were lucky if I even bothered showing up.

My school practiced compulsory voting in this regard (you had to show up, if you got caught you would be made to stand up at the very front during the next day's compulsory morning service where "everyone could see you"). I think it's had an effect on my general distaste for democracy.

[Diahon]

I don't think I ever once voted in a student council election when I was at school, and as for this word "friend" well I'm not sure what that means but I don't think I have one of those.

In an actual election I'd vote for whoever I think is best (as someone who knows people who ran for Parliament, etc.) but I wouldn't give a shit about a meaningless platitude at school. In fact for most of my time at high school you were lucky if I even bothered showing up.

My school practiced compulsory voting in this regard (you had to show up, if you got caught you would be made to stand up at the very front during the next day's compulsory morning service where "everyone could see you"). I think it's had an effect on my general distaste for democracy.

and your general liking for whichever would make you contemplate quitting your hobbies for no greater reason than your ideal leader thinks they're bad

but enough about that

if your friend ain't absolute shit and you're not scheming to profit off of him getting elected, then sure, vote for the guy

[Heloin]

I don't actually know what student council does anywhere in the world and the only reason I knew who the student council president my last year of high school was because she was dating my brother.

[Saint Kanye]

The star candidate will mean nothing to me once I graduate, but my homie will still be my homie.

[Tinhampton]

I'd vote for my friend. This particular school council is a big enough joke as it is anyway... and it probably needs to be led by a Silvio Berlusconi more than it does a Winston Churchill

[Page]

I'd always support my friends unless they did or were going to do something extremely wrong.

[Infected Mushroom]

I don't actually know what student council does anywhere in the world and the only reason I knew who the student council president my last year of high school was because she was dating my brother.

I had to do a double take on this post because I thought you said my mother 0_0

[Heloin]

I don't actually know what student council does anywhere in the world and the only reason I knew who the student council president my last year of high school was because she was dating my brother.

I had to do a double take on this post because I thought you said my mother 0_0

No I was dating your mom.

I'll see myself out...

[Dakini]

Student council elections are popularity contests and nothing more.

So obviously I would vote for my friend.

I think I voted for student council exactly once though. I was in grad school and there had been a recall on the previous graduate student council president because he was incompetent, had barricaded one of the other council members in her office and threatened to assault her, got elected entirely on lies and promises he couldn't possibly keep (e.g. he promised humanities students that they could be paid equal to science students, not all science students were even paid equally and the graduate student council has nothing to do with graduate student salaries) and was a shitty asshole who slagged everyone who used the graduate student pub. I voted purely to vote against him.

[Resilient Acceleration]

I mean, it's not like my friend would do a bad job at it, and as his best friend, obviously, I'm going to trust that he can. Besides, the tradition in my school was to just divide up the council position according to the polling results, meaning that if my friend wins, the other guy will become VP. And vice versa.

[Relden]

Vote for my friend, and then organize intimidation of the rival candidates supporters.

[Imperial States of Duotona]

I would pick my friend because:

-He has had some experience in the council so if he did get it, he wouldn't do that bad
-The star probably wouldn't get mad at me for not voting for them
-And most importantly, it probably won't change much given it's a school council election and I'll probably forget it in a couple years or so

[Resilient Acceleration]

I would pick my friend because:

-He has had some experience in the council so if he did get it, he wouldn't do that bad
-The star probably wouldn't get mad at me for not voting for them
-And most importantly, it probably won't change much given it's a school council election and I'll probably forget it in a couple years or so

And you can also join the student council, which is often quite a good place to hangout and mess around with your friend-group (especially if said group rules the council), which I guess is what matters most when talking about highschool experience.

[Ifreann]

Would I support my friend in an endeavour that is totally meaningless to me beyond the fact of my friend wanting to succeed in it? Yeah, obviously.

[Vikanias]

Vote for no one. I will vote for my friend but this super star whom probably has 5 Lamborghini’s and has more money than I’ll make in 15 lifetimes. My vote wouldn’t count. If only I could make this superstar “go to another school”

[The Two Jerseys]

Former class president here. It doesn't matter, you're just voting for a powerless figurehead.

[The Jamesian Republic]

Considering your vote doesn’t really matter either way and since most councils don’t do anything aside from ceremonial stuff, I would just vote for my friend anyway.

[Neanderthaland]

I organize the assassination of the star candidate, followed by a campaign of brutal intimidation against all others who would dare to run against my friend.


Alternatively: I don't bother, because the student council doesn't matter.

[The Huskar Social Union]

Bro-Choskis before Ho-skis

[Cetacea]

Vote for friend

If they actually Win then I have a direct influence on them and can either get inside information or influence a vote
If they lose then the better candidate gets in, so no harm done

Plus it looks like the whole thing is a sham anyway