Revolutionizing Student Governance: A Student-Centred Digital Voting Prototype for HEIs

Abstract

This thesis explores how HEIs can modernise student governance by prioritising the development of usable, secure, transparent and engaging digital voting systems. Focusing on students as primary stakeholders, it examines how trust, accessibility, and usability can influence students to participate more in student governance. The study presents a student-centred digital voting prototype incorporating advanced security features such as MFA and encryption, real-time analytics, event management, and gamified engagement tools. A design-based research approach was used for student participants to test the prototype; their feedback indicated that such systems could significantly increase trust, boost voter turnout, and support student leadership development. Future research should include in-depth institutional and administrative perspectives for the broader implementation of similar digital voting platforms.