Data Sources & Retention

An election platform needs a reliable way to determine who is eligible to participate in a particular election. Requirements may apply to all eligible students, a school, several schools, a department, multiple departments, an academic level, or a combination of these groups.

Student information helps the platform evaluate whether a person satisfies the requirements established for that election. Appearing in a registry, or possessing a JAMB registration number, does not automatically make someone eligible for every election.

The planned student registry may be populated from clearly identified publicly accessible sources, including admission lists. Such information may have been intentionally published by an institution or relevant public source for admission-related or verification purposes.

Public availability does not mean information can be used for every possible purpose. Within FUTO Central Elections, information obtained from a public source should still be treated as restricted when it concerns a student's eligibility or identity.

How the planned import process works

Imported records should be associated with context such as an admission session, source reference, import date, and import context. This helps maintain traceability without exposing private administrative metadata publicly.

Depending on the election and its requirements, relevant information may include:

Not every field needs to be displayed or requested during every interaction. The platform should not collect student information simply because it is available.

The planned process is designed to compare the information a student provides with an eligible student record, then evaluate that record against the specific election's rules.

1. 1The student enters a JAMB registration number.
2. 2The system checks whether a matching student record exists.
3. 3The student provides any required verification information.
4. 4The system compares the submitted information against the record.
5. 5The system evaluates eligibility for that particular election.
6. 6If the requirements are satisfied, the student may proceed to the ballot.

Why may State of Origin be requested?

State of Origin may be used as an additional value to compare against the corresponding student record. This is intended to make it harder for someone who only knows another student's identifier to pass verification. It is not described as perfect security, and additional authentication mechanisms may be introduced where appropriate.

Why is a JAMB registration number used?

It is intended to act as an identifier for locating the relevant student record. It should not be displayed publicly as part of a student's public profile.

Student information may be used to verify eligibility, determine ballot access, help prevent repeated voting in the same election, maintain election integrity, and support appropriate records.

Public results are intended to present aggregated outcomes such as candidate totals, winning candidates, turnout, and published results. They are not intended to expose a student's JAMB registration number, State of Origin, private profile, verification information, or individual ballot choices.

Preventing multiple votes

The election system is designed to prevent the same eligible student from submitting more than one ballot for the same election.

Student records are not intended to be publicly searchable. Ordinary website visitors should not have access to the registry, and students should not be able to browse other students' records. Access should be limited to legitimate system operations and authorized election administration.

Services Used to Operate the Platform

The intended architecture may rely on third-party infrastructure providers such as Supabase for structured application data and Cloudinary for candidate image and media storage and delivery. Mentioning these providers does not mean either service is integrated into this informational page, and their use should not make student information publicly searchable.

The application is designed around principles including server-side validation, access control, protected administrative functions, secure credential handling, database access controls, input validation, rate limiting where appropriate, protection against unauthorized access, and separation of public and private information.

We use reasonable technical and organizational measures appropriate to the purpose of the platform, while recognizing that no internet-connected system can guarantee absolute security.

Security incidents

If the platform becomes aware of a significant incident involving protected information, appropriate investigation and response procedures should be followed. No system can promise that incidents will never occur.

Active student information may be retained while necessary to support current election eligibility and administration. It may need to remain available across election cycles because students can participate in multiple elections during their time at FUTO.

What happens when a student graduates?

As an academic session advances, students who have completed the relevant progression may be marked as graduated rather than simply deleted. Graduated students should no longer be considered eligible for ordinary current-student elections, while their historical relationship to completed elections may remain where necessary for legitimate recordkeeping.

Election records

Appropriate records may need to be retained after an election ends, including election information, candidate information, published results, appropriate audit information, and records necessary to demonstrate process integrity. Individual voter records should not be publicly exposed.

Student information is not intended to be sold. It should only be disclosed where necessary for legitimate platform operation, authorized election administration, applicable legal obligations, or another clearly defined legitimate purpose.

Keeping records accurate

Student records may originate from admission sources and may need updates as academic sessions change. Administrators may need to import new records, update academic levels, graduate students, correct appropriate records, and maintain school and department relationships.

If you have concerns about incorrect eligibility information, please contact the platform team so the concern can be raised and reviewed.

Changes to this policy

This page may be updated when data practices, features, retention practices, verification methods, or third-party infrastructure change. The page will be maintained as the platform evolves.