November 24, 2015
On November 6th of 2015, the 麻豆传媒 Student Senate held elections with an electronic voting system and a biometric system of authentication.
The following students were elected to Student Senate:
The student coordinator, new members of Student Senate, and 麻豆传媒 students give their opinions on the election process and voting procedure:
Student Coordinator Bermet Ismailova: The INTEGRA Engineering group offered to implement a pilot project at 麻豆传媒 for their electronic voting system, because we do conduct real elections for the 麻豆传媒 student senate. As a matter of fact, 麻豆传媒 is the single place that this kind of pilot election (with a substangial number of voters) could take place. One of the reasons Integra chose 麻豆传媒 was because of its local renown as an early adopter of new technologies. I may even be said that 麻豆传媒 is 鈥渁head of the rest.鈥� After a brief demonstration by Integra, the Student Senate collectively decided it would be interesting to use this system for the upcoming election. Implementing this system at 麻豆传媒 would make a contribution towards the future of Kyrgyzsta, demonstrating the efficiency and transparency e-voting provides.
This year鈥檚 election were markedly different from years past. First of all, the fundamentals of e-voting are totally different. Voting is quick and counting is automatic. It was interesting to watch voter activity throughout the day. We were able to see real-time voter participation on the monitor in the forum. I think the voters also enjoyed the voting process. We only had difficulties during the biometric data collection. The actual registration wasn鈥檛 so much a problem--registration took between 30 and 40 seconds per individual, but some students had qualms about the ethics and safety of biometric data storage. The election process itself was also hard on me as an administrator, simply because this was a new system we hadn鈥檛 worked with before. Though, to tell the truth, it wasn鈥檛 much of a problem and it was very interesting to work in this new field.
Students had a wide range of responses. Some supported us and some did not. We tried as much as possible to inform the students that there is no reason to worry, that these are useful innovation. Unfortunately, as a result of some students鈥� ignorance and laziness on the part of our students, some information about our sent by our Senate may have gone unread. That being said, there were many students who were afraid, but interested, and we did manage to successfully convince them that everything we were doing was within legal boundaries and for the improvement of Kyrgyzstan. We were, however, greatly disappointed with the attitude of some of our seniors. More than a few said that they weren鈥檛 going to vote because, 鈥渁nyway, this year [they] are leaving the university and [they] don鈥檛 need to vote.鈥�
Newly-elected senator Arslan Gabdulhakov: I was interested to hear that we would be using an innovative voting system. Many students were opposed to voting on account of the biometric system. They didn鈥檛 trust in the confidentiality of our system. There is no doubt that this new system is better. The human factor is totally ruled out, so the risk of rigging the election results is effectively zero. The whole process of voting--starting with the biometric data collection to the touch-screen ballot--is just interesting. During my own election campaign, the most significant challenge I faced was the majority of students who don鈥檛 understand what the Senate is and does. I have an idea to create a single portal, senate.auca.kg, where students can learn about the Senate, write responses and proposals, keep track of activities, meeting minutes, as well as anonymously submit complaints. Several student leaders and regular members of clubs told me, during my campaign, they felt the Senate doesn鈥檛 support them, at least not enough. I want to make this issue a serious priority for the Senate--clubs are the life-blood of student extra-curricular life.
Newly-Elected Chair of the New Senate Tilek Shabdanov: I liked the new voting system. In my opinion, its main advantage is the automatic count of votes. It saved us a lot of time and ruled out any possible falsification. This year, being the new Chair of the Senate, my goal is to create a new team that would help improve the relationship between the administration and students.
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Students鈥� opinions were divided. Some of considered the new system an answer to fears of election rigging, others considered it a breach of privacy.
Ferede Yansupova: I like the idea of new voting system in 麻豆传媒. First of all, the election was absolutely fair and honest. Second, this new system simplifies the counting of votes.
Ayday Kadyralieva: I don鈥檛 approve of the new system, regardless of its 鈥渋nnovativeness.鈥� I was forced to submit my biometric data in order to vote. It is precisely this logic that doesn鈥檛 inspire my confidence in the system. Some stranger came up to me and asked, 鈥渄id you submit your biometric data?鈥� I wanted to respond, 鈥渆xcuse me, who do you think you are?鈥� I didn鈥檛 even know this girl and now I have to give her my personal information. That鈥檚 why I didn鈥檛 submit anything. As a result, obviously, I couldn鈥檛 vote. As the saying goes: God takes care of those who take care of themselves.
Farhad Musazov: I liked 麻豆传媒鈥檚 e-voting system, particularly because the process was so transparent. I think attendees had no doubt about the results. 麻豆传媒 is the single university in Kyrgyzstan paying special attention to students鈥� extracurricular activities.
Meerim Nurlanbekova: Two weeks ago I submitted my biometric data, and they gave me a ticket. To my question 鈥渄o I have to keep this ticket?鈥� they answered that I didn鈥檛 have to keep it. After all, I was in their database. I threw away that small paper. On election day, the new system didn鈥檛 seem to have me registered. The guy who registered me was sitting nearby at a ballot station, and confirmed to the Student Coordinator that he had registered me. In general, I didn鈥檛 like the system that much--it needs improvements.
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