Q&A: UP Academic Senate Elections
If you have any other questions about the AS UP elections, please send them to faq@upol.cz.
How many academic and student candidates can one vote for?
Voting for the UP Academic Senate is according to faculty, and you can vote for 2 academic representatives and one student. In these elections “everyone votes for everyone”: i.e. each voter can select two academics and one student from the candidates with their vote.
Can I vote for candidates from other faculties?
No, AS UP elections are de facto eight separate elections and you can only vote for candidates from your “home” faculty. If you are part of the academic community at more than one faculty (for example studying or teaching at more than one faculty), you have to choose one of those faculties at which to vote.
Where can I learn about the AS UP candidates and their platforms?
Up-to-date information on the elections, including the list of candidates, can be found on this page; the publication of the candidates’ platforms is up to each faculty/senate/election commission. We recommend looking at the pages of the individual faculty and its senate.
What does the AS UP decide? Why should I vote?
The UP Academic Senate is the highest governing body at UP: it makes decisions on UP’s organisational structure, budget, approves the UP Academic Board, votes for the rector, and has a whole slew of other responsibilities and powers. Together with the Academic Board it is the main controlling body at UP.
When does the voting start?
The virtual polling places for elections to the “grand” UP Academic Senate will open on Tuesday, 19 May 2020 at midnight. You can access them via the link at www.upol.cz/elections.
What do I need in terms of technology to participate in the electronic voting?
Any desktop computer, notebook, tablet or mobile phone with an Internet connection and an updated Internet browser. We recommend for example using Chrome or Firefox.
Can I vote from my smartphone?
Yes, the voting app is tailored for Android and iOS systems.
Do I have to install some special program?
No special program is needed. Just open the voting app via the link on the page www.upol.cz/elections and vote!
How will I be verified as a voter?
We will verify your identity in a simple way, via the standard method of asking for your username and password which you use for the UP Portál, STAG, Moodle, OBD, et al. If you cannot remember your username or password, please contact the administrator of the computer network at your faculty as soon as possible (contacts).
How will you prevent people from voting more than once?
The electronic system is set up to block multiple voting. It records the voter and the time their vote was placed, and afterwards further voting is blocked. The system is similar to physical polling when your name is crossed off the list by the election official once you place your vote.
Can I vote via UPlikace?
No, the smartphone app is for accessing STAG etc., but it is not connected at all with elections.
When and where will the election results be posted?
After polling has closed and the votes have been counted, the Main Elections Commission will post the results on the UP Official Notice Board, on the AS UP webpages, and on the pages www.upol.cz/elections.
How are the elections safeguarded?
The UP Computer Centre is concentrating on two aspects in the area of safeguarding the elections: on protecting manipulation of the election results and on ensuring the anonymity of the voting. Manipulation of the election results is prevented via checksums. Any manipulation of data (e.g. the ballots or lists of candidates) would disrupt the integrity and would be flagged immediately. Ensuring the anonymity of the voters is done via advanced cryptography techniques. The key to ballot counting and thus the election results is held only in the election commission’s “hand”. As separate from other systems, not even the IT administrators will be able to see any information – in the database the information is encrypted and unreadable. In addition to these quite extraordinary measures, we will understandably apply all other standard tools for ensuring the safety of the information systems.