Student elections can be a messy affair. In the past, we've see it all: incorrect or unverified voter identification, more votes than their are eligible voters, polling stations running out of ballots, confused poll clerks, a long and dreadful vote counting process... the list goes on and on, and spans a variety of organizations. Student groups typically suffer from poor voter turnout as it is. How can they be expected to improve it when their voting process is so unappealing to the average student?

We need a revolution within the electoral process; a solution that will help improve elections for organizations of all sizes. Smaller groups have limited budget and manpower with which to run their elections - they need a resource that will expand their coverage, and make their elections more accessible to voters. Larger organizations see small problems snowball into large ones due to the sheer number of voters they are dealing with - they need a reliable tool that helps take some of the headache out of the election process, and makes it easier and more convenient to voters.

Enter CURED, C-ENG's online voting tool. CURED is a web-based system that has successfully been deployed in the Engineering community. Originally created by Matt Gawlik and Travis McGahey as their final Software Engineering project, its goal is to enable a move toward electronic democracy - one where voting is done with a mouse instead of a pencil. Specifically, CURED is designed to accomplish the following:

• Allow students to vote from any computer with an internet connection
• Create a cheaper and more environmentally friendly election by eliminating paper ballots
• Ensure that the people voting are eligible to cast a ballot, and that each voter receives the correct ballots
• Eliminate the possibility of running out of ballots
• Eliminate the tabulation and scrutineering process - comprehensive results are immediately available

CURED is a complete elections portal - serving student groups from the drop of the writ of election, right through to the release of results. Group can run an election or a referendum using the system, at any time, even concurrently with other elections. From major events like general elections, to simply asking students for their opinion, CURED enables student groups of all sizes to execute effective and reliable polling of their membership.

+ See the basic technical specifications
+ View the wishlist for improvements
+ Visit us on Facebook!

Please stay tuned. The revolution is here. Are you ready to be CURED?

CURED is © 2007 Matt Gawlik and Travis McGahey - cured [at] engsoc [dot] org
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