After a 92 to 92 tie between freshmen Connor Donohue and Lydia Mitchell,  a runoff election for Freshman Student Council President was held, with Donohue winning.

Runoff elections are held if candidates were within 10 votes of each other in the original election, senior Sunil Mishra, Student Body President, said. However, this year the two candidates had an exact tie, Dr. Mark Maranto, Assistant Principal of Student Activities, said.

“In seven years as the Student Activities Office director, I’ve never had a tie like that,” Maranto said.

The first round of freshmen elections took place on Sept. 9. The ballot was sent out by email to all freshmen and was open for one full school day before the winner was announced at the end of the day, Mishra said. Once the tie and following runoff election were announced, Donohue and Mitchell were given a week to campaign further before the runoff was held on Sept. 16, Maranto said.

While Sophomore, Junior, and Senior class elections are held at the end of the previous year, Freshmen elections occur a month into the school year to let freshmen get acquainted with South first, Maranto said.

Student Council’s main role is to plan and lead student events and activities, Mishra said.   They also act as the voice of the student body, Maranto said, and listen to student feedback to plan events that students will enjoy.

“Kids will be honest with me, but they’ll be more honest with their friends,” Maranto said. “We follow the pulse of the student body, and that starts freshman year.”

Such a close election shows how much a single vote can matter, Mishra said. If one of the candidates’ friends did not vote, that could have affected the whole election, he added.

“Voice can really change the outcome of an election,” Mishra said. “Your voice matters.”