As the presidential election is approaching, so is the Perry Township School Board election, which also takes place every four years. 

This year, there will be three candidates running for the school board and results will come out on the evening of Nov. 3. 

There are four open seats, but only three people have applied to run as a School Board member. As a result, those candidates will automatically win. 

Perry Township is not a pre-sync township, which means that the representatives can live where they please, as long as they are in the township area. According to Hartman, a pre-sync township would have two representatives living in the SHS area and the other two in the PMHS area.

To run, candidates must fill out paperwork in the beginning of August and have signatures of 10 registered voters in the township. According to board member Steve Johnson, these signatures have to be verified by the election board.

After they have been verified, that person is placed on the Marion County election ballot as someone who is running for an open seat. Once this happens, people just vote for their preferred candidate on the ballot on election day.

“All I have to do is go and vote for myself, and I win the election,” School Board member Emily Hartman said. “So it is an uncontested race this time because you didn’t have more than four people.” 

While running, the candidates campaign in order to let voters know they are a good fit.

 “I had to make up campaign flyers, I had to meet up with people on a daily basis, and then I had to put signs out in different parts of the township,” Johnson said.

According to Hartman, she would campaign on back to school nights, standing outside school buildings, introducing herself and what she stands for. However, the seats are uncontested, so her level of campaigning has decreased.

“With three people only running this year, I don’t really have to do a lot because it is uncontested,” Hartman said.