POSTERS
Posters alone do not win elections.
It's not an art contest. Nobody really pays much attention to posters, especially if there are a lot of them competing for attention. Your posters should be colorful, simple, and cleverly placed in unique high-traffic spots. Something about them should stand out and make people notice your name.
Your name should be the biggest and boldest thing on the poster. If someone glances at the poster for just one second (which is all -- or more -- than many students will), what's the one thing you want him or her to clearly notice and remember? Your name.
Don't overdo it with the posters. You get no points for how artistic or intricate they are. You don't get votes by having the most or the biggest posters. All posters can do is remind people that you want the job, that you're promising to do the job well, that you've got a cool attitude about the election, and that you're asking them to vote for you.
Remember what posters are for, and don't get sidetracked into thinking they are the campaign. They're just reminders.
Reminders of what? That's the important part. Concentrate on campaigning (introducing yourself to people on a personal, individual basis and asking them to vote), and your great speech, and don't worry so much about fancy posters.
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The person who is the most visible is often the one elected. When you get a ballot, you will automatically ignore any names you don't know, and vote for the one you have heard the most about.
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Toni McQuilken
Voter
Oviedo, Florida
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The biggest key for someone wanting to run for anything is of course having the majority of people know who you are somehow. In schools that are so big it is almost impossible for everyone to know everyone, you have to find some way to get your name out there.
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Emily Haverkamp
Voter
Overland Park, Kansas
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Campaigning with posters develops an image for the candidate, but will not win an election. No one stops to read details on a poster, so it should simply state a point, your name, and something attention-catching.
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Robert O'Brien
Senior Council Senator
Portland, Maine
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Put as few words as possible on your posters. When students are walking from class to class, they don't want to have to stop and read a big old long thing. They want to just get the necessary information and move on. It also makes a lot more impact if you can put your picture on your posters.
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Laura Marshburn
School Spirit Commissioner
Palo Alto, California
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They were doing construction at my school, putting up a new building. A guy running for President of the class had pictures blown up of himself in front of the construction site, smiling, wearing a hard hat, and holding a shovel. Underneath, he had his name and the caption, "Working hard to build a better school..."
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Louis Ormin
Voter
Santa Barbara, California
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One sign had a large picture of me in front of the TV at my house wearing pajamas. The caption read "Kyle Rossi last Saturday night." Across the top, in larger letters, it said, "People with nothing to do in their free time have lots of opportunities to work hard for the betterment of Solon High School." It went over so well that it spawned an entire series of similar signs.
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Kyle Rossi
Class Treasurer
Solon, Ohio
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IDEAS FOR POSTERS
HANDOUTS
A lot of candidates hand things out in the hallways and around the school: pamphlets, flyers, stickers, buttons, pencils, candy, etc.
This can be great publicity, but it could also work against you.
Be careful.
Nobody likes to be bribed.
Everybody wants to get something for nothing, but nobody wants to vote for someone who's trying to "buy" the election.
Handing things out -- short letters addressed to the voters asking them to vote, platform summaries, surveys and requests for suggestions, or balloons/buttons/stickers with your name and a cute slogan on them -- is usually a good thing. It can be a great way to get your name exposed, especially if you give out something that people will hold onto or wear or use or play with all day.
Having something to hand out can also make it easier for you to stop your classmates, meet them, and talk to them. But you're missing the point if you just thrust things at people and say "here, vote for me" like a robot. You don't want to make the handouts seem more important than the candidate. Instead, use handouts as a way to break the ice, an excuse to stop people and talk to them.
Remember, it's not about how many things you give out. It's about how people remember you as a candidate, and whether or not they even go vote at all. You want to ask them to vote and remind them to vote, NOT bribe them to vote.
A special note about giving out candy: popular opinion seems to be very divided on this. Some students swear by it, saying students will vote for whoever gives them the best snack. But others will think it's sleazy and desperate -- even if it's not intended that way.
To give out candy or not to give out candy -- that is the question. It comes down to a personal philosophy, what your competitors are doing, and what is customary in your school. You don't want to lose the election because your competitor gave out candy and you didn't -- but on the other hand, you don't ever want to be thought of as someone who won the election because of the candy.
This is a strategic decision. You should consider the atmosphere in your school and what has been done before (what is expected). Is handing out candy common campaigning practice? Are others doing it? Could it hurt? Could it hurt your chances if you don't? Do you need it? Can it backfire? Could it get you disqualified?
My advice: rise above it. You can win without passing out candy.
But I don't know your school.
Think carefully about this decision. Don't blow it off. Ask your friends for advice. Which of the students below sounds most like your classmates (the ones who vote)?
Whatever you do, don't let your campaigning become "about" candy or stickers or whatever. Let your handouts, if you have any, serve as an introduction and an ice-breaker, not as a platform.
The best way to get people to know you is through campaigning. Especially posters and those stickers that people wear. Bribery may have worked in grade school, but high school students see right through that and basically think of it as desperate.
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Mary Kelly
Senior Class Treasurer
Wilmington, Delaware
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The people who have always won are those that have their slogans not only on posters hanging up, but have a handout along with it. These constantly remind people who is running, and they usually explain that the candidate wants to win because he or she wants to serve the school.
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Marisa Ruth Werner
Voter
West Valley City, Utah
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I went to Wal-Mart and bought florescent copy paper and a greeting card. Why a greeting card? Because I wrote my personal message to the students inside the greeting card, to the effect of, "Thank you for considering me as your Senior Reporter," and then I made 300 copies of that greeting card onto my fluorescent paper. I folded them all and handed them out with miniature candy bars stapled in the corner. Many people respected me for using a humble approach -- asking them instead of commanding them to vote for me.
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Briana Blount
Senior Class Reporter
Denham Springs, Louisiana
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Something that one candidate did, which I thought was pretty clever, was give out candy to everyone in the school -- but attached to it was a picture of him, his slogan, and when and where the voting was taking place. It made him noticed throughout the student body and put a face with the name.
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Jessica Dolinsky
Voter
Scranton, Pennsylvania
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We tied the first time, with the exact same number of votes. It had never happened before in the history of my school, and no one knew what to do about it. They decided the only fair thing to do was have a re-election. We were not going to give another speech. Campaigning was the only thing we could do. So I went to an Office Depot and bought 1,300 pencils. I made little tags that said "I need your support. Vote Brooke President" and taped each tag to a pencil, and had them delivered to every homeroom the morning of the re-election. Four hours later, I found out I was the new Student Body President. People still tell me the pencils won my election.
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Brooke Thompson
Student Body President
Clover, South Carolina
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People who passed out stickers to wear or candy with their name on it had a better chance because when people went in to vote, if they didn't really know the people running (or didn't care), they would just look on their sticker or at the piece of candy they were eating and vote for the name on it. No joke.
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Nicole Tobin
Student Council member
Livonia, Michigan
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A lot of people in school elections give out candy. They may think it works, but bribery doesn't really work. The majority of students will vote for the person they think deserves the job and can do it well (otherwise they are someone who just votes for their friends anyway).
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Melissa Gosdzinski
Voter
Southfield, Michigan
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A great majority of students pass around small pieces of paper with their slogans on it and small pieces of candy, but this rarely works. People promise their vote to the candidate with candy, but will still vote for their friends.
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Natalia Hermosillo
Drama Club Treasurer
El Paso, Texas
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Don't give away stuff. It will make some people feel that you're trying to "buy" them (even if you're not), and most of them will take your gift and vote however they want anyway.
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Bwana Hansen
Voter
St. Petersburg, Florida
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Bribes don't work. Most people see bribery as an effort, by a loser, to make friends. People will take bribes and then laugh because they suckered the candidate.
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Shaun G. Moe
Student Body President
Lakewood, Colorado
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One candidate passed out lollipops with "Vote for Kevin" stickers on the bottom. Some people found them cute and others found them obnoxious. However, one of the opposing candidates hung a large wall-size poster which read, "Don't Be A Sucker... Vote for SUSIE."
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Lori DelliColli
Class Vice-President
Methuen, Massachusetts
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A person giving out candy usually seems to be using it as a bribe, maybe because he or she can't influence votes any other way... I don't know about you, but I look down on people that have to resort to bribing people for their votes...
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Todd Stewart
Voter
Tampa, Florida
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The advertisement is the most truthful part of a newspaper.
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