Schools go hi-tech, use e-voting for student council elections

After its Class 10 students coded an electronic voting program, Bombay Cambridge School in Andheri (East) decided to hold its student council elections through e-voting. Anjali Lukose reports.

The tradition of voting by dropping chits with names of your favourite candidates in a box is becoming passé in city schools.

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After its Class 10 students coded an electronic voting program, Bombay Cambridge School in Andheri (East) decided to hold its student council elections through e-voting.

“We use the computer for everything but this time I felt important while using it to cast a vote. It was really cool,” said Rahul Menon, a Class 6 student of Bombay Cambridge.

While students were excited by the novelty of the process, teachers praised its efficiency.

Votes get registered immediately and this reduces the time and effort which otherwise go into holding the elections. “We used to waste several lectures to hold elections and count votes,” said Manish Xavier, a teacher.

Meanwhile, other schools are utilising software purchased as teaching aids to work as voting meters.

At Aditya Birla World Academy at Tardeo, Buzzyears, an education network is currently being installed and will be used for their upcoming student council elections.

“We want to go completely green and reduce the use of paper. This is also an attempt to keep up with changing times,” said Radhika Sinha, principal.

Last year, the Pragnya Bodhini School at Goregaon had purchased a Statistical Analysis System software. Though the system is mainly designed for students to answer multiple-choice questions, the school has now planned to use it during elections.

The e-voting system, however, has some drawbacks. Apart from the possibility of technical issues cropping up and difficulty in getting used to the programme, the system is also prone to misuse.

As students are not registered, they can cast multiple votes under different names.

“For the next elections, we plan to upload candidates’ photos so students don’t make mistakes. Students will also have to register for voting using their reference numbers so we know exactly who has voted,” said Xavier.