Server Crash Delays Elections
Last Updated on Wednesday, 03 March 2010 14:39 Written by Alan Robertson Wednesday, 03 March 2010 12:13
ELECTIONS for the University of Strathclyde’s Students Association (USSA) were thrown into disarray on Monday night as online polls shut down for thirteen hours.
Students were unable to cast their votes from half-past seven till mid-morning the following day, with concerns now growing that election turnout could plummet as a result.
A technical difficulty with the external server hosting the elections has been identified as the cause of the crash, forcing the union to switch polls to Pegasus and extend the deadline till 9am today.
Returning Officer Robin MacDonald, who is responsible for oversight of the elections, told The Telegraph the polling problems were “annoying” but that all necessary steps had been taken to mitigate its impact.
“We’ve extended the time that the polls are open for and consulted the candidates whenever any big decisions have been made. Of-course they are a bit annoyed that all this has happened but we just have to deal with it,” he added.
While the student association’s website is run in-house, it is hosted by a third-party server which was said to have experienced a “total meltdown”.
Concerns are now circling among candidates that turnout could struggle to surpass the 19 per cent of Strathclyde students that voted last year.
Current USSA President Philip Whyte said the situation was “far from ideal”.
“I wouldn’t go so far as to say that it has undermined the elections,” he said, “But I would say that it has disrupted them, potentially put off students from voting and disenfranchised them, which is not something that you want whenever you’re electing the trustee board and executive committee of a student association”.
He added that the crash of the third-party server has left them powerless, and that this has been a wake-up call to just how vulnerable it is.
Sarah Collins, member of the Strathclyde Anti-Cuts Action Network and candidate for Vice President Education and Representation, was more sceptical of the election process following the voting chaos.
“I don’t believe in the election process in this University at all,” she said.
