After problems with the online voting system arose in last year’s Board of Governors elections, Carleton Computing and Communication Services (CCS) have gone out of their way to make sure the system is foolproof and similar events don’t occur, said deputy university secretary Anne Bauer.
“CCS is the one that’s responsible for the online voting system [and] after last year’s elections, they hired a . . . consultant to [make sure] the application that they were using to count the votes . . . was perfectly done,” Bauer said.
“The system was good last year, but they wanted to make sure it was done better . . . we made some improvements,” she said.
Jamie Campbell, the assistant director of information security, explained the changes CCS made within the voting system and on Carleton Central.
“We changed some of the controls to mitigate against the risk of any spoiled ballots in the system,” Campbell said. “The other changes that we made were related to the overall security of Carleton Central.”
Last year, the problem was related to spoiled ballots, he said.
Although the introduction to online voting caused problems last year, Bauer said it was decided that online voting worked best and would remain in place.
“I’ve really enjoyed it so far, it’s been convenient [to] encourage students to vote,” said undergraduate representative candidate Zane Colt. “I think it’s a lot easier than trying to enlist polling stations.”
Bauer said using online voting increased voter turnout last year, as it gives students the ability to vote anywhere at any time.
As for the rest of the election, only a few minor changes have been made between this year and last, she said.
The response from the candidates suggested otherwise.
This year, there was no debating between the candidates during the campaigning period, which Bauer explained was due to the lack of response from the candidates.
“We didn’t hear anything back [from them], we didn’t know if it was as necessary this year.”
“I was looking for an all-candidates debate, because it helps students decide, but . . . I think I did the best I could,” said undergraduate representative candidate Andrew Kwai.
Colt said he would have also enjoyed debating with the candidates, but is fine with just talking to students about his platform.
There was a little bit of confusion in regards to campaigning on voting days, Kwai said.
“You’re not allowed to, because there were some candidates having other people promoting [them] over Facebook.”
Bauer said she received some complaints March 12 so she sent out an email to candidates clarifying that no campaigning from friends was allowed either.
Election results should be posted by 10 a.m. on March 16, Bauer said.
