November 24, 2015
On November 6th of 2015, the AUCA 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 AUCA 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 AUCA for their electronic voting system, because we do conduct real elections for the AUCA student senate. As a matter of fact, AUCA 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 AUCA was because of its local renown as an early adopter of new technologies. I may even be said that AUCA is “ahead of the rest.” 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 AUCA would make a contribution towards the future of Kyrgyzsta, demonstrating the efficiency and transparency e-voting provides.
This year’s 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’t 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’t worked with before. Though, to tell the truth, it wasn’t 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’ 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’t going to vote because, “anyway, this year [they] are leaving the university and [they] don’t need to vote.”
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’t 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’t 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’t 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.
Students’ 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 AUCA. First of all, the election was absolutely fair and honest. Second, this new system simplifies the counting of votes.
Ayday Kadyralieva: I don’t approve of the new system, regardless of its “innovativeness.” I was forced to submit my biometric data in order to vote. It is precisely this logic that doesn’t inspire my confidence in the system. Some stranger came up to me and asked, “did you submit your biometric data?” I wanted to respond, “excuse me, who do you think you are?” I didn’t even know this girl and now I have to give her my personal information. That’s why I didn’t submit anything. As a result, obviously, I couldn’t vote. As the saying goes: God takes care of those who take care of themselves.
Farhad Musazov: I liked AUCA’s e-voting system, particularly because the process was so transparent. I think attendees had no doubt about the results. AUCA is the single university in Kyrgyzstan paying special attention to students’ extracurricular activities.
Meerim Nurlanbekova: Two weeks ago I submitted my biometric data, and they gave me a ticket. To my question “do I have to keep this ticket?” they answered that I didn’t have to keep it. After all, I was in their database. I threw away that small paper. On election day, the new system didn’t 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’t like the system that much--it needs improvements.
American University of Central Asia
7/6 Aaly Tokombaev Street
Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic 720060
Tel.: +996 (312) 915000 + Еxt.
Fax: +996 (312) 915 028
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