Elections error accidentally reveals manifestos early
Submitted manifestos for this year's Leadership Elections were made available for nearly two weeks due to a computer error.
An error in Imperial College Union’s elections webpage meant submitted manifestos were available to view for nearly two weeks.
An incorrect setting in the eVoting database meant a discontinued set of manifesto display pages, which had been removed in 2016, were accidentally reactivated. The result was that manifestos and information for candidates who had already submitted was available to view. The error meant manifestos were visible from the opening of nominations, on Wednesday 31st January, up until the afternoon of Wednesday 14th February.
The Union estimates that by the time the manifesto pages were taken down, 237 candidates had put themselves forward for electable positions, and, of those, nearly 60 had submitted some form of a manifesto. The manifesto they submitted may not necessarily match their final version, since candidates can continue to edit manifestos until the beginning of March.
“The manifestos were a small proportion of the total expected number of candidates”
A representative from the Union said the number of submitted manifestos represented a small proportion of the expected number of candidates: “While it is not possible to accurately estimate the number of nominations that will be received in total, and comparisons to previous years are of limited value as the Clubs, Societies, and Projects involved are different, we are expecting there to be approximately 800 nominations received by the deadline.”
The Deputy Returning Officers have decided that the Leadership Elections should continue without interruption. In a statement on the Union website, they said “we decided that if we cancelled the elections we would cause more disruption to candidates without undoing any of the consequences of the error, rendering it a disproportionate and unproductive response.”
Nominations for the Leadership Elections close on Sunday, 25th February. Over 700 roles are available, including paid sabbatical roles. You can nominate yourself here.
