today was the big day we - or at least I - have been waiting for; the first day of elections
it was a very long day for me as I had a quiz and a midterm at 5.30, reached home at around 8.30, and thats why this post has been late, but anyway thats not our problem now
the elections date was announced very late, we all noticed that; we suddenly knew that the elections were tomorrow, - well technically there was a mail sent a week ago to the candidates only as far as a I remember, that mentioned the elections date, but we really needed the confirmation earlier so we could have been more ready -
however the university did a good job with all those posters that said "your voice counts, go elect @ C1" some of these posters were even hanged on the Pepsi refrigerator's door in Pronto caff'e, though still that doesn not make up for the lateness of announcing the date
I went to elect at around 12 o'clock, and I've to confess that the elections were very well organized, there was a volunteer waiting at the C1 door making sure that this is the entrance for your faculty, and a lot of other volunteers inside the hall guiding you to what you are supposed to do, it was really smooth, and they looked ready to handle any rush that can happen
but, and that is a big and serious but, there were a huge draw back in the organization
I think there is an international law that on any elections, there should never be anyone standing outside telling people who to elect,
unfortunately that rule was infringed , some people told me that they elected X because a lot of people waiting outside the elections hall were saying that he/she is good, and that influenced their decision, they didn't even care to read the names written on the voting paper, and just looked for the names they were told were creditable
I went to one of the volunteers in the elections hall, told her the matter, and the volunteer made fun of it saying that people would not be influenced by such a thing and they would elect whoever they were convinced with, but of course I know what I was told, and know how easy it is to be influenced in such situations specially when you don't personally know the candidates
there is also the other basic rule that, when you are electing there shouldn't be someone standing next you, because he can influence your decision
well, what I sow today with my own eyes when I went to elect was 2 friends each holding the voting paper, and one of them telling the other chose X, Y & Z, and a volunteer was standing right next to them saying nothing!!!!
that is nonsense real nonsense, if the GUC means these elections to be transparent clean elections - and I'm sure they mean to - these infringements should not be tolerated by any means, there are basic elections rules that should universally be followed, and they must be followed here, its not that we are short of resources, we are full of resources, and the volunteers are really great, we only need some organization and all these problems will be solved, but they shouldn't be ignored, as I said these are basic elections rules
for me these problems are big ones, and they need to be prevented tomorrow and the day after, I don't know how can I draw the organizers attention to these things, but they really need to be solved, I would love if someone can write in the comments what I should do
people were excited today with the election, so please don't make anything ruin this excitement
it was a very long day for me as I had a quiz and a midterm at 5.30, reached home at around 8.30, and thats why this post has been late, but anyway thats not our problem now
the elections date was announced very late, we all noticed that; we suddenly knew that the elections were tomorrow, - well technically there was a mail sent a week ago to the candidates only as far as a I remember, that mentioned the elections date, but we really needed the confirmation earlier so we could have been more ready -
however the university did a good job with all those posters that said "your voice counts, go elect @ C1" some of these posters were even hanged on the Pepsi refrigerator's door in Pronto caff'e, though still that doesn not make up for the lateness of announcing the date
I went to elect at around 12 o'clock, and I've to confess that the elections were very well organized, there was a volunteer waiting at the C1 door making sure that this is the entrance for your faculty, and a lot of other volunteers inside the hall guiding you to what you are supposed to do, it was really smooth, and they looked ready to handle any rush that can happen
but, and that is a big and serious but, there were a huge draw back in the organization
I think there is an international law that on any elections, there should never be anyone standing outside telling people who to elect,
unfortunately that rule was infringed , some people told me that they elected X because a lot of people waiting outside the elections hall were saying that he/she is good, and that influenced their decision, they didn't even care to read the names written on the voting paper, and just looked for the names they were told were creditable
I went to one of the volunteers in the elections hall, told her the matter, and the volunteer made fun of it saying that people would not be influenced by such a thing and they would elect whoever they were convinced with, but of course I know what I was told, and know how easy it is to be influenced in such situations specially when you don't personally know the candidates
there is also the other basic rule that, when you are electing there shouldn't be someone standing next you, because he can influence your decision
well, what I sow today with my own eyes when I went to elect was 2 friends each holding the voting paper, and one of them telling the other chose X, Y & Z, and a volunteer was standing right next to them saying nothing!!!!
that is nonsense real nonsense, if the GUC means these elections to be transparent clean elections - and I'm sure they mean to - these infringements should not be tolerated by any means, there are basic elections rules that should universally be followed, and they must be followed here, its not that we are short of resources, we are full of resources, and the volunteers are really great, we only need some organization and all these problems will be solved, but they shouldn't be ignored, as I said these are basic elections rules
for me these problems are big ones, and they need to be prevented tomorrow and the day after, I don't know how can I draw the organizers attention to these things, but they really need to be solved, I would love if someone can write in the comments what I should do
people were excited today with the election, so please don't make anything ruin this excitement
actually what you said is right.....but i don't think that the volunteer would have the power to prohibit someone from telling a second one to vote for a third....what we can do about that is awareness.....
ReplyDeletebut i would like to add one think....the volunteer were not really cooperative and their offensive attitude made everything worse......they lack expert and knowledge about organizing such an event and the administration should have noticed this and acted in good faith
I agree on both parts, the volunteers aren't the experienced, but I assume that this was only because that this is their first time to even witness such an event and didn't know how to handle the stress, and I think that compered to their expertise they did a good job
ReplyDeleteof course the volunteers don't have the power to stop such scenes because they weren't given such an authority by the uni, what I'm asking is to allow only ONE person to be standing on the elections box, that would at least limit any problems
but you are right the main thing we should do for now is awareness :)