The future of elections in universities

In the specific case of the Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena, we are talking about a very modern university, born at the end of the 20th century, but which gathers the experience of the great tradition of higher studies that at the end of the 19th century already made Cartagena a technological and economic centre of reference in Spain. As described on its own website, "the technological education that is taught in Cartagena represents, due to its antiquity, pioneering centres for the development of regulated technological education in Spain. In fact, mining engineering studies are, in strict chronological order, the third centre to be created in Spain and industrial engineering studies are the first to be established simultaneously as Higher Schools of Industry in nine cities in Spain. As they followed different paths in their development, they are commented on separately until they converge and are integrated into the Escuela Universitaria Politécnica de Cartagena" [in August 1998].

As we said at the beginning, in order to keep their independence and to provide themselves with rules and structures of operation, universities, and especially public ones, such as the Polytechnic of Cartagena, are subject to electoral processes with small differences depending on the electoral body that chooses and the positions to be elected.

This year 2020, and the exceptional circumstances that we have experienced, have caused various alterations in the electoral calendars of institutions such as the University of Burgos, the University of Alicante, the Polytechnic University of Cartagena itself, or even, as is well known, both the Basque and the Galician parliaments.

In the publication of Ideas for Democracy last May, "How to hold an Electoral Process in the Year 2020", alternatives to traditional face-to-face voting processes were proposed. In this case, the University of Cartagena decided to incorporate technology to avoid the health risks that could be caused by a call with votes and physical ballot boxes in the school itself.

The elections to the Rector of the Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena were undoubtedly the most relevant, but they coincided in time with the elections of the representatives to the Cloister from the Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería de Telecomunicación (ETSIT) and the elections to elect the Director of the same ETSIT. The university managers decided to bet on an Internet voting solution that would be able to guarantee the whole process, and at the same time facilitate the participation of as many voters as possible. For this purpose, the university hired the online voting services of Minsait, an Indra company, and held the elections between July 6 and 10, 2020.

The complexity of the vote was not lesser, mainly due to the groups in which the electoral body is divided for the Rector's elections, which require 4 different ballot boxes. In addition, the ballot boxes had to be incorporated for votes related only to the ETSIT. This differentiation of the ballot boxes forces the elaboration of different censuses for each one of them. Accompanying these particularities of the design of the voting process, imposed by the nature of the election system of the institution, it is necessary to add the times and the possible second rounds of some of the elections.

The election of the Rector and Cloister representatives was open from Monday 6 to Friday 10 July. However, the electoral event for the ETSIT management was a little more intense. On Tuesday, the first round took place. On Wednesday, after knowing the results of the first round, it was time to qualify and vote in the second round. Again, and after knowing the results of the second round, it was necessary to go to a third round on Thursday, July 9. Finally, and without any technical problems, the voting was closed on Friday 10th July with results that were definitively proclaimed on 14th July.

As for the accessibility to the vote, the platform operated autonomously by the staff of the University of Cartagena, proved to be a simple and intuitive solution through which the electoral body can exercise their rights fully. Both the "Instructions for elections to Rector and Cloister 2020" and the "Manual for Internet voting telematics at the Polytechnic University of Cartagena (UPCT)", explained in detail the steps to be followed to exercise the right to vote of each of the voters from different groups of the electoral body.

Selection screen of the electoral process for the elections of the Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena in the year 2020.

In March 2020, the elections for the rector, for representatives of the faculty and for the management of the Telecommunications Engineering School were suspended as a result of the state of alarm and the health situation. The Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena decided to take full advantage of the possibilities of technology to carry out, by the hand of Minsait, its elections in a telematic way, thus returning to democratic normality in its operation by ensuring that the entire university community could easily and safely exercise their vote. The participation was good, with numbers similar to other face-to-face elections, and the voters valued the simplicity of the voting platform very positively. At the end of July, the first elected rector of the Polytechnic University of Cartagena took office, and she did so after an atypical voting process due to health circumstances, but successful and very satisfactory, thanks to Minsait's experience and solutions.

*This article has been prepared with the collaboration of the Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena team.