The usual democratic process of election of prefects was suspended at Stardom Schools because of the incident between Banky and Tosh. During Speech Day, Banky had said: "Instead of voting for the son of an ex-convict, cast your vote for me. You will never regret." He said this as part of his campaign and was directed at Tosh. This negative campaigning led to a chain of events including the suspension of this process of democratic election. This can be found on page 42 of the novel.