While students over eighteen voted for their legislative representatives and the president of the United States on Nov. 5, 2024, Middleton High School’s (MHS) United States Government and Politics (USGP) students arrived at one of two polling stations to vote in the 23rd Legislative Semester’s election..
The Legislative Semester is a uniquely styled class that allows students to engage in a simulation of the House of Representatives, writing bills and electing leaders from their fellow peers. These leaders include a largely student-run Rules Committee, composed of elected representatives from each class; a Minority Leader, a Majority Leader and a Speaker of the House. Unlike last year, students also had the opportunity to elect a President from one of the many USGP tutors who took the class last year.
Election Fundamentals
The election process begins within the Rules Committee, composed of one elected student from each class. The chosen representatives vote on an Elections Director to ensure the election runs smoothly. This year, the role was filled by Representative Kriti Mitra. Mitra was responsible for posting petitions for candidates to get on the ballot, selecting polling places for the day of the election, writing the election rules and making sure that absentee ballots were available to everyone.
“I printed out the petition sheets, and I had to put them up, and I wrote down the basic rules that Rules Committee had agreed on for petition time,” Mitra said. “All the candidates were handed a four-page packet of all the rules that they had to read and sign to participate in the election.”
Following these steps, the candidates turned to their fellow students to obtain signatures which would eventually determine if they made it onto the ballot. This was also the most difficult part of the election process for the director.
“The most challenging part was the petition season. Everyone was complaining [that] there was just so much hearsay going around,” Mitra said. “I was very overwhelmed. But luckily, we got all that sorted out, and with the new rules that I had to write, no one broke them.”
Mitra explained that she considered possible misinterpretations of the rules during petition season to regulate future misconducts from petitioners and candidates.
“There were rules against spreading hearsay and stuff like that. There were also rules against, like, framing other candidates for breaking the rules,” she said.
Following petition season, the candidates who made it on the ballot were announced, and campaigning began. This brought into consideration the location of the polling stations and the distribution of information to students about voting day. This year, they decided to have two voting locations for shorter lines and more convenient placement.
“The polling places this year were in front of the activities office and in front of the South LMC, and those were completely at my discretion, and they worked,” Mitra said. “We had 20 percent more voter participation than last semester.”
For students who were absent on election day, the teachers sent out absentee ballot request forms so that they could still vote in the election. It was the responsibility of the Rules Committee Representatives to tell their respective classes about where the voting was taking place and how to get an absentee ballot.
“We were pushing absentee ballots a lot more this year than last year,” Mitra said. “I believe we had like 40 people absentee vote, which was a pretty decent amount, given that that 200 people voted total, so that’s a fifth of everyone who absentee voted.”
The day of the elections, USGP students were able to show their student ID at one of the two polling stations to receive a ballot during their advisory and lunch periods. During the following block, Mitra and other representatives from the Rules Committee gathered to count these votes, and the results were announced shortly after.
“[The teachers] did a really good job making sure that everybody had a fair chance of running, and I really appreciated the effort that they put forth to make sure, like, as a candidate, I felt very respected and very honored,” said Majority Leader-elect Rohan Dileep. “So for that, I thank them, and I thank the process.”
Campaigning
All four of the elected candidates spent hours petitioning to get onto the ballot. They discussed different issues during the candidate debate, and campaigned towards their fellow USGP students to influence their vote. However, the process for each candidate during election season looked very different.
For Majority Leader Rohan Dileep, undecided voters were the focus of the campaign.
“I think one thing that I focused on with my campaign manager was looking for potential voters who might be still 50/50,” Dileep said..
He acknowledged that he had voters who supported him from the beginning, but explained that he wanted to reach those who were still interested in hearing what he stood for as a candidate.
“Something that was unique [about my campaign] was just like, really talking to everybody,” Dileep said. “I ran on trust. I think I wasn’t trying to sell myself. I was selling the trust that people would have in me to execute those ideas.”
As part of his campaigning process, Dileep chose not to use most of the funds that students donated to his campaign.
“I’m not trying to have any game or, like, edge against any other opponent,” Dileep said. “So I decided not to go into classes. I decided not to campaign and put my face around the school. Instead, I decided to be an icon of trust, an icon of decency.”
Minority Leader Matthew Wagner had a similar approach to Dileep, prioritizing his conversations with the voters rather than advertising his candidacy around the school.
“In terms of gaining support, I just tried to have real conversations about what I believe with other Republicans and even Democrats,” Wagner said. “[The conversations] helped show that I want to make real change, not just grasp at power or social position.”
Speaker Owen Sehgal took a different approach than both Wagner and Dileep, choosing to utilize his funds in order to talk to as many people as he could.
“My main thing I did was visit classrooms, because I really just wanted people to know, like, I’m someone that everyone can talk to,” Sehgal said. “I more just wanted to meet everyone, get to know people, so that if people do have questions about something, I’m still a person they can talk to and come find.”
Sehgal also put a lot of thought into how he presented himself to each class, learning the demographics of the classes he visited and tailored his speeches to appeal to each classroom that he visited to ensure the best chance of getting elected.
“But it was mostly just–it was mostly just being myself,” Sehgal said. “Really fighting for what I believe in, and hoping that people will agree with that.”
This semester, the teachers decided to allow current USGP students to elect their president for the first time, giving the tutors–seniors that took the class the previous year–an opportunity to campaign for this role for the USGP election. For his campaign, President Akshay Manna brought in elements from his campaign for Majority Leader during the 21st legislative semester.
“My approach was informed by a philosophy that has existed since the inception of my Majority Leader campaign, and inspired by a philosophy far older than that. I am a representative of the people, elected by the people, working for the people.” Manna said. “The voters are the ones who put me in power, and they did it because they believe that I can represent them. This is why I spent time visiting them in-person. That’s why I always end my campaign speeches with time for questions.”
However, his approach to running for president differed from his approach to the Majority Leader campaign. While it was his peers that elected him before, this election consisted of an entirely new voter body with different views than previous USGP classes.
“I didn’t have any rapport or ethos built up coming into this election. I didn’t know anybody in the semester, so while in my first campaign I was able to rely heavily on people’s pre-formed perceptions of me, I had to build all of that from the ground up this semester,” Manna said.
He emphasized that the role of president deserved respect, and he remained by this idea throughout his campaigning process.
“Being president is not simply a title given,” Manna said. “it comes with real responsibilities, both to the work that needs to be done and the people you are doing it for.”
Challenges
As with any election season, the candidates and elections coordinators faced many challenges during the petitioning and campaigning seasons. It was the Rules Committee’s job to deal with any reported misconduct of representatives and candidates, and respond with appropriate consequences. Students could report any misbehavior with forms called “Petition for Action Requests”. In the week that petitions were due, the Rules Committee received a significant amount of “Petition for Action Requests”.
“My fellow Rules Committee representative […] and I were very disappointed that the grand majority of petition for action requests were, during petition season, were against members of Rules Committee,” Mitra said. “As Rules Committee representatives – members – they had, like, a higher obligation to the rules almost, because they were the ones writing them. They knew the intentions behind those rules.”
Mitra said that the “Petition for Action Requests” revealed that candidates were encouraging people to double sign petitions.
“While that wasn’t against the rules, it made my job and other people counting petition signatures much harder,” she said. “We had to be vigilant, because there was likely going to be way more double signers than we expected.”
The candidates also struggled with learning how to campaign. These students had to consider how they wanted to express themselves and their ideas to the student body while still allowing the election to run smoothly. Dileep explained that it was challenging at times to respect the other candidates and make sure that their voices were also heard.
“I think, you know, a lot of political tactics were used, which I thought was pretty unique in a high school mock democracy,” Dileep said. “Elections can get really competitive, but we want to make sure it’s an atmosphere for everybody to thrive.”
Some of these tactics included mockery and, as mentioned earlier, encouraging people to double sign petitions to cancel out signatures.
“The most challenging part of the elections was enduring ridicule from people, both from the opposing party and my own party,” Wagner said.
Sehgal faced a challenge that was distinct from any of the other candidates: being a senior in a junior-dominated course.
“I didn’t know, like, anyone going into this, because I haven’t had the reason to, like, meet all the people younger than me,” Sehgal said. “I think for me, a really big issue is just trying to connect with everyone, because I don’t know everyone, and, like, putting my name out there so that people know who I was.”
For Manna, the challenge was to strike the balance between being a funny candidate and being a serious candidate. “Nobody likes a candidate who is uptight or worse cocky, but you also need to make sure people understand that you will treat this role with the necessary respect and work ethic that it demands and deserves,” he said, adding, “You have to know your audience, know what they value, and then work on delivering that to them.”
Rules Committee
At the beginning of the year, each USGP class had the opportunity to elect a student that would represent their class on the Rules Committee, which determined the rules and organization of the simulation aspect of the class, including the elections.
Many of the candidates were also Rules Committee representatives: Both Majority Leader Rohan Dileep and Speaker Owen Sehgal are members of the Rules Committee.
Speaker Owen Sehgal shared that being a part of the Rules Committee aligned closely with his role as Speaker. Sehgal was elected as the Chair of the Rules Committee at the beginning of the year, helping head debates and read the agenda in their meetings.
“It’s been fun because, like, I’ve gotten to, like-like, work with the whole-the whole group, and we’ve all gotten to know each other pretty well,” Sehgal said.
When elected, the Speaker of the House takes over as the Chair of the Rules Committee. Since Sehgal already has that position, he will continue as the Chair in Rules Committee meetings.
“I was still going over the agendas of our meetings [and] kind of running it too. So it was actually really nice to go from Rules Chair to Speaker, because there wasn’t really that much change.”
Rules Committee representatives were in charge of determining key information about the election, and they were given access to the inner workings of how the simulation worked in terms of elections, petitions and candidacy.
“I think it definitely did [help] in terms of, like, I was more aware of what was going on,” Sehgal said. “When coming to petitions and stuff, since we were the ones talking about making the rules, I was super aware of them.”
Dileep agreed, saying, “I think being on Rules Committee just, like, gave me that edge of leadership.”
Still, the candidates that were on the Rules Committee weren’t given access to specific information about the elections that might have given them an edge or advantage over candidates that weren’t.
“We weren’t really allowed to, like, go to the meetings when they were, like, when they went over the signatures, election stuff,” Sehgal said.
“The elections part of rules committee kept to their own side, and we kept to our own side,” Dileep said.
Real-World Similarities
To make the simulation as realistic as possible , USGP teachers incorporated similarities to the real-world positions and processes of the House of Representatives while tailoring the experience to fit a high school setting.
Despite the fact that USGP’s legislative leaders have far easier jobs than their real world counterparts, there are still parallels that can be drawn between the roles. Each of the candidates were asked to reflect on how their respective positions related to the roles of the real-world government positions.
“This class was built to be a simulation of the real House of Representatives, and it does a good job at it,” Manna said. “But the fact of the matter is that there are mechanisms at play that can’t possibly find their way into a high school classroom.”
Students are not asked to manage international relationships, budgets or economic repercussions. However, because the leadership roles are made to be a simulation of the real-life positions, there are still similarities between them.
“Although the bills I sign or veto have little effect outside these walls, my role as a leader and role model remains the same,” Manna said. “Because the President of the United States has a responsibility, as do I, to ensure that the country is united under a common goal: to protect the rights, freedoms, and futures of all those who reside within our borders.”
Sehgal agreed with Manna, emphasizing that although the real position is different from its simulation in the legislative semester, there are underlying concepts that bridge the responsibilities that the two roles have.
“I think it’s pretty similar in terms of the whole sense that you’re trying to represent a common voice, and you’re trying to make sure everyone is heard,” Sehgal said.
Dileep emphasized the importance of leadership in both roles, acknowledging the power that the Majority Leader had to set the agenda and tone of the debate.
“I think with that great power comes great responsibility, right? It’s a saying that we hear all the time, and I think being able to set agendas is very important,” Dileep said “The Democratic Party is a very diverse party, and because of that, I want everybody’s voices to be heard. I’m not going to expel anyone. I’m not going to call anybody a fake Democrat or anything like that. I respect everybody’s views and viewpoints, because that creates dialog, and with dialog creates democracy, and that’s something that I stand for.”
Goals for the Legislative Semester
Each candidate campaigned with specific goals in mind.. The vision that each elected candidate had for their role will carry into their performance as the leaders of this semester’s legislative simulation.
Wagner, who leads the significantly smaller conservative party in USGP, sought to change how the students and people viewed his party.
“The Republican Party is often misrepresented as cruel, heartless and unkind, and I’ve made it a goal to prove otherwise, despite the stereotypes,” Wagner said. “Just a word to all who voted me and all who didn’t vote for me as well: I will be your leader no matter who you are, and I look forward to listening, growing, and making a true impact alongside all of you.”
For Dileep, unity among the representatives is a large part of his vision as majority leader.
“Something I’ve noticed since, you know, a young age, is that people have been scared of politics,” said Dileep. “I think politics can be a place of discussion, a place of hope, a place of democracy. And I just think that that’s really important.”
As a candidate, Dileep ran on the promise of bipartisanship and pledged to hear both sides of the debate regardless of their party or affiliation. This was a key part of his campaign, and he consistently stressed the importance of hearing everyone’s views and opinions.
“Almost two thirds of our legislative assembly is Democrat. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that we shouldn’t take initiative—to reach across the aisle,” Dileep said. “I think as majority leader, that’s something I’ll shine on.”
Manna, who ran for president after seeing many people refuse to put their beliefs aside and serve the people, put a focus on changing the view of politicians in the eyes of the public.
“Our elected officials tend to do a pretty poor job of being part of their communities,” Manna said. “Only 37% of people know their local representative’s name, and it isn’t the fault of the people.
“I wanted to be a role model for someone. Even though we don’t see our true elected leaders doing it, maybe I can show someone how it’s done,” Manna said. “In this role, I wanted to truly be a representative of the legislative semester. That’s why I have spent time and effort visiting people in-person. I can campaign endlessly behind a screen, but at the end of the day I need to remember who put me in power.”
Sehgal focused more on the students’ opinions of talking about politics and discussing it within the class.
“Politics is something that a lot of high schoolers struggle talking about,” Sehgal said. “I want to make sure everyone has the ability to feel comfortable, and so that we can have discussions. But if people don’t feel comfortable, they have someone that’s easily talkable, and I can help out by just trying to make sure that everyone is feeling the best they can throughout the semester.”
Conclusion
All in all, the 23rd Legislative Semester elections were a success; the students were able to gain valuable experience with the democratic voting process, and the four elected candidates have pledged their support towards representing the students to the best of their ability.
Moving forward, the elected leadership and the students will prepare for committee hearings and the full session, where they will debate the many bills proposed by the students. With such an exciting start to USGP this year, we can’t wait to see what the next semester holds!
