Zhejiang prohibits voting for students

The education authority in Zhejiang province has banned schools from using online voting to decide the winners of various student awards and contests.

It said rampant campaigning for votes has seriously disturbed the lives of students and parents and led to invalid vote results.

“I think this will definitely help make those competitions and events among kids fairer and more impartial,” said Lu Jia, a public worker in Ningbo and the mother of a 10-year-old son. “Now I’m confident saying no to any request for votes from my colleagues or friends.”

Now I’m confident saying no to any request for votes.”

Lu Jia,

She added that such requests were a headache.

According to a notice issued earlier by the education department, schools at all levels should emphasize the virtues of honesty and respect, and eliminate acts of vote campaigning and ballot-rigging.

“With the popularization of the internet, online voting has contributed to wider participation by the public and enhanced interest in selection campaigns, but campaigning and vote-rigging have negatively impacted the healthy growth of students,” the notice said.

Wu Yizan, the father of a 13-year-old son in Shengzhou, Zhejiang, applauded the rule.

“My son once performed perfectly in a preliminary audition online for a role in a movie. But during the final online voting process, we worked hard to generate many ballots for him, and he still failed. After that, I never allowed him to participate in any event like this. For a kid, being honest is the most valuable asset,” Wu said.

The notice also called for better management of training agencies and social institutions when they organize online voting related to students.