11 students may have voted twice

‘It still bothers me to know that my name is on an envelope with my votes in it’: Engineering UMSU rep

Magally Zelaya, Staff

During the three days of UMSU elections, 11 students were entered into the voting system twice, according to Stephanie Fera, the chief returning officer (CRO), who managed the election.

Two students from each of the faculties of University 1, science, engineering, architecture, kinesiology and recreation management, and one student from the Faculty of Arts had their student numbers come up on the system as already having voted when they arrived at the polls.

Fera said that such incidents are part of the process and are not a result of a software or computer glitch.

Before voting, all students were required to present their student card; the election poll clerks recorded the student’s number as having voted.

One potential source of error that Fera cited was that the poll clerks incorrectly recorded some students’ numbers.

It is also possible that a student may have attempted to vote twice.

“I suspect those individuals are either trying to cast multiple votes for the candidates which they support, and/or are trying to ‘test’ the system,” Fera wrote in an e-mail to the Manitoban.

“If we can verify that this person has voted twice, then that will be brought to the attention of their faculty, and they could face penalties,” she said.

On the last day of elections, Fera said that there was no cause for concern and that the incidents would have no impact on the election results.

“It’s not anything to be alarmed about,” she said. “It’s something that we are proactive in dealing with and have a procedure in place to make sure that it’s still a fair election and that the results are in fact what the students want.”

If the system shows that a student has already voted, the student is still allowed to vote but the ballots are “double enveloped,” said Fera. However, the student must first take a verbal “Oath After Challenge” pledging that they have not voted before and are legally entitled to vote.

In double enveloping, the student is given a small envelope to seal their ballots in. The small envelope is then placed in a larger envelope, on which the poll clerk writes the student’s name and student number before sealing it.

“That way they can still cast their vote, but, when we reconcile all the different voters’ logs, we make sure that that person in fact has not voted twice,” said Fera.

If a student’s number has been marked as voted by a poll clerk, the ballots are counted. If a student intentionally voted twice the ballots are not counted.

Though double enveloping will track the accuracy of the votes, it does not guarantee anonymity of votes — a concern held by Travis Friesen, one of two UMSU council representatives for the Faculty of Engineering.

Friesen was told he had already voted when he gave his number at the polling station and had to double envelope his ballots.

“The clerks followed proper procedure, with the double enveloping and everything, but it still bothers me to know that my name is on an envelope with my votes in it,” he said.

“Someone could easily find out whom I voted for, if he or she wanted to. I am confident that no one involved with the process would lack the integrity to do so, or even that anyone would have any desire to find out how Travis Friesen voted, but the potential remains.”

Fera maintained that double enveloping ensures anonymity and confidentiality.

President-elect Jonny Sopotiuk said he thinks double enveloping may have put voters off.

“Students were able to put their votes in a sealed ballot, but I think that’s pretty discouraging for any student who wants to go vote and is told they’ve already voted,” he said. “So, absolutely, it’s something that should be investigated.”