Welcome to the Pericles Elections Administrator. This program is used by the system administrator to authorize the creation of elections, to suspend or restore elections and to validate elections officers. Once an election is autourized using the Elections Administrator, the settings for the election must be defined with the Election Editor.

The dialogue boxes used in the Elections Administrator are as follows:

Login Dialogue Box
Function Selection Dialogue Box
Authourize New Election Dialogue Box
Register Elections Officers Dialogue Box
Suspend Election Dialogue Box
Login for Suspend Dialogue Box
Restore Election Dialogue Box
Login for Restore Dialogue Box
Change Password Dialogue Box

Each dialogue box of the Elections Administrator may have error messages associated with it. An error window will appear whenever one of these errors occurs. The only button on these windows will be an "OK" button, which the user must press in order to do anything further in the Elections Editor.

Login Dialogue Box

This dialogue box is used to ensure that only the system administrator may start the Election Administrator. The Elections Administrator will automatically quit if invalid login information is entered three times in a row. This is done to hinder automated attempts to break security.

The user name and password will automatically be set to "admin" and "admin" respectively when the Pesricles Electronic Elections Software is initially installed. These can be changed using the Change Password Dialogue Box. The system administrator should change this login information immediately after installing the system in order to maintain security.

Choices Available:

User Name: the user name of the system administrator.
Password: the password of the system administrator. This information is starred out as it is entered, so as to prevent onlookers from reading it.
Help: this button takes the user to the help screen for the Elections Administrator.
Quit: this button takes quits the Elections Administrator.
OK: this button takes the user to the Function Selection Dialogue Box.

Invalid login information: this error appears if the user presses the "OK" button after having entered a username and password that do not match that of the system administrator. See the Installation Instructions on how to initially set this login information, or the Change Password Dialogue Box on how to change the system administrator password.
No login information entered: this error appears if the user presses the "OK" button without having entered a username and password.

Function Selection Dialogue Box

This dialogue box allows the user to decide what type of task he or she wishes to perform with the Elections Administrator.

Choices Available:

Authorize New Election: this radio button allows the system administrator to authorize an elections officer or officers to configure and oversee a new election using the Pericles Elections Editor.
Suspend Election: this radio button allows users to suspend an election that has not begun yet or that is in progress.
Restore Election: this radio button allows users to restore an election that was interrupted by a technical failure, a breach of security or an election suspension. It restores the election to its state prior to the interruption and allows the system to begin accepting votes again for the election in question.
Change Password: this radio button allows the system administrator to enter his or her identification information.
Help: this button takes the user to the help screen for the Elections Administrator.
Quit: this button takes quits the Elections Administrator.
OK: this button takes the user to the Authourize New Election Dialogue Box, the Suspend Election Dialogue Box, the Restore Election Dialogue Box or the Change Password Dialogue Box, depending on which radio button is selected.

No elections currently registered: this error appears if there are currently no elections registered and the user presses the "OK" button after choosing the "Suspend Election" option.
No elections currently interrupted: this error appears if there are currently no elections that have been interrupted and the user presses the "OK" button after choosing the "Restore Election" option.

Authourize New Election Dialogue Box

This dialogue box allows the system administrator to authorize an elections officer or officers to configure and oversee a new election using the Pericles Elections Editor. The Elections Officer(s) for the election being created must be present at this stage to enter the identification information that they will use for the new election.

This dialogue box displays the Election Code that will be used to uniquely identify the new election to be registered. This code is automatically generated and is different from any other election codes that correspond to other elections registered in the system. The elections officer(s) should be sure to note this information, as they will need it to use the Pericles Elections Editor.

Choices Available:

Number of Elections Officers: this text box allows the user to enter the number of elections officers that will be supervising the new election.
Minimum Elections Officers Needed: this text box allows the user to enter the minimum number of elections officers that are needed to log in to perform any actions using the Pericles system.
Help: this button takes the user to the help screen for the Elections Administrator.
Back: this button takes the user back to the Function Selection Dialogue Box.
OK: this button takes the user to the Register Elections Officers Dialogue Box.

Improperly formatted information entered: this error appears if anything but a positive integer is entered in the "Number of Elections Officers" field or the "Minimum Elections Officers Needed" field.
Minimum too large: this error appears if the number in the "Minimum Elections Officers Needed" field is greater than the number in the Number of Elections Officers" field.
Incomplete information entered: this error appears if any of the fields in this dialogue box are left blank.

Register Elections Officers Dialogue Box

This dialogue box allows each elections officer to enter his or her identification information for the new election into the system.

This dialogue box will appear once for each elections officer, up to the number specified in the "Minimume Elections Officers" field on the Authourize New Election Dialogue Box.

Choices Available:

Elections Officer User Name: the unique name that will be used by the system to identify the elections officer in the election in question.
Elections Officer Password: the password of the election officer that will be used for the new election. This information is starred out as it is entered, so as to prevent onlookers from reading it.
Re-Enter Elections Officer Password: the elections officer must re-enter his or her password to verify that it was entered correctly the first time. The password information will be starred out as it is entered so that an observer will be unable to read it.
Elections Officer E-Mail: the e-mail address of the elections officer.
Help: this button takes the user to the help screen for the Elections Administrator.
Back: this button takes the user back to the Authourize New Election Dialogue Box. if this is the first Register Elections Officers Dialogue Box to appear. Otherwise, it takes the user back to the previous Register Elections Officers Dialogue Box.
OK: this button only appears if there are still more elections officers to be registered. It takes the user to the next Elections Officers Dialogue Box.
Done: this button only appears if there are no more elections officers to be registered. It commits the elections officer information for the new election to the database and registers the new election on the database so that the election can be configured using the Pericles Elections Editor. The user is brought back to the Function Selection Dialogue Box.

Incomplete information entered: this error appears if any of the fields in this dialogue box are left blank.
Election officer user name already exists: this error appears if the information entered in the "Elections Officer User Name" field is already registered for this or another election.
Password does not match: this error appears if the user presses the "OK" or "Done" button after having entered different information in the "Elections Officer Password" and "Re-Enter Elections Officer Password" fields.

Suspend Election Dialogue Box

This dialogue box allows elections officers (after being logged into the Pericles Election Administrator by the system administrator (this is to ensure that the system administrator is made aware of any problems)) to suspend elections that are in progress or have not begun yet. This should only be done in exceptional circumstances, such as a serious breech of security. When an election is suspended, the data stored in the database for it is frozen and no more votes are accepted.

If voter e-mail addresses were specified when the election was originally configured with the Pericles Elections Editor, then an e-mail will automatically be sent out to all voters registered for the election in question when an election is suspended. This is to inform them of the development and to alert them to listen for developments and not vote until the election can be restored (see the Restore Election Dialogue Box) or restarted.

Choices Available:

Election Code: this text box allows the user to enter the unique code for the election that is being suspended.
Help: this button takes the user to the help screen for the Elections Administrator.
Back: this button takes the user back to the Function Selection Dialogue Box.
Suspend Election: this button takes the user to the Login for Suspend Dialogue Box.

Election already suspended: this error appears if the election specified in the "Election Code" field has already been suspended.
Election does not exist: this error appears if the information specified in the "Election Code" field does not correspond to a registered election.

Login For Suspend Dialogue Box

This dialogue box allows elections officers to enter their identification information when attempting to suspend an election.

This dialogue box will appear once for each elections officer needed to effect changes for the election in question, up to the number specified in the "Minimum Elections Officers" field on the Authourize New Election Dialogue Box
when the election was originally registered.

Choices Available:

User Name: the user name of the elections officer.
Password: the password of the elections officer. This information is starred out as it is entered, so as to prevent onlookers from reading it.
Help: this button takes the user to the help screen for the Elections Administrator.
Back: this button takes the user back to the Suspend Election Dialogue Box if this is the first Login For Suspend Dialogue Box to appear. Otherwise, it takes the user back to the previous Login For Suspend Dialogue Box.
OK: this button only appears if there are still more elections officers to log in. It takes the user to the next Login For Suspend Dialogue Box.
Done: this button only appears if there are no more elections officers to login. It restores the election so that the notification e-mail can be sent to voters (if their e-mail addresses were specified when the election was configured with the Pericles Elections Editor) and suspends the election so votes are no longer accepted. The user is given a window with a progress bar that asks him or her to wait for this to take effect. The user is then brought back to the Function Selection Dialogue Box.

Invalid login information: this error appears if the user presses the "OK" or "Done" button after having entered a username and password that do not match that of an elections officer who is not registered for the current election. This error also appears if the login information entered corresponds to that of another elections officer who has already entered their information into a previous Login For Suspend Dialogue Box.
No login information entered: this error appears if the user presses the "OK" or "Done" button without having entered a username and password.

Restore Election Dialogue Box

This dialogue box allows elections officers (after being logged into the Pericles Election Administrator by the system administrator (this is to ensure that the system administrator is made aware of any problems)) to restore elections that  were interrupted by a technical failure, a breach of security or an election suspension. The election in question is restored to its state prior to the interruption, which is to say the information stored on the database. Once an election is restored, the system will begin accepting votes again for the election in question.

If voter e-mail addresses were specified when the election was originally configured with the Pericles Elections Editor, then an e-mail will automatically be sent out to all voters registered for the election in question when an election is succesfully restored. This is to inform them that service was interrupted and is now restored, and that they need to revote if they did not receive a verification number.

Choices Available:

Election Code: this text box allows the user to enter the unique code for the election that is being restored.
Help: this button takes the user to the help screen for the Elections Administrator.
Back: this button takes the user back to the Function Selection Dialogue Box.
Restore Election: this button takes the user to the Login for Restore Dialogue Box.

Election not currently interrupted: this error appears if the election specified in the "Election Code" field has not been interrupted.
Election does not exist: this error appears if the information specified in the "Election Code" field does not correspond to a registered election.

Login For Restore Dialogue Box

This dialogue box allows elections officers to enter their identification information when attempting to restore an election.

This dialogue box will appear once for each elections officer needed to effect changes for the election in question, up to the number specified in the "Minimum Elections Officers" field on the Authourize New Election Dialogue Box
when the election was originally registered.

Choices Available:

User Name: the user name of the elections officer.
Password: the password of the elections officer. This information is starred out as it is entered, so as to prevent onlookers from reading it.
Help: this button takes the user to the help screen for the Elections Administrator.
Back: this button takes the user back to the Restore Election Dialogue Box if this is the first Login For Restore Dialogue Box to appear. Otherwise, it takes the user back to the previous Login For Restore Dialogue Box.
OK: this button only appears if there are still more elections officers to log in. It takes the user to the next Login For Restore Dialogue Box.
Done: this button only appears if there are no more elections officers to login. It restores the election so that the notification e-mail can be sent to voters (if their e-mail addresses were specified when the election was configured with the Pericles Elections Editor) and restores the election so that votes can be accepted once again.  The user is given a window with a progress bar that asks him or her to wait for this to take effect. The user is then brought back to the Function Selection Dialogue Box.

Invalid login information: this error appears if the user presses the "OK" or "Done" button after having entered a username and password that do not match that of an elections officer who is not registered for the current election. This error also appears if the login information entered corresponds to that of another elections officer who has already entered their information into a previous Login For Restore Dialogue Box.
No login information entered: this error appears if the user presses the "OK" or "Done" button without having entered a username and password.
Unable to restore election due to data corruption: this error appears if the system is unable to restore an election because of a corruption of the election data in the database.

Change Password Dialogue Box

This dialogue box allows the system administrator to change her or his personal information. The user name and password will automatically be set to "admin" and "admin" respectively when the Pesricles Electronic Elections Software is initially installed. The system administrator should change this login information immediately after installing the system in order to maintain security.

Choices Available:

System Administrator User Name: the  name that will be used by the system to identify the system administrator.
System Administrator Password: the old password of the system administrator.
New User Name: the new user name of the system administrator.
New Password: the new password for the system administrator.The password information will be starred out as it is entered so that an observer will be unable to read it.
Re-Enter New Password: the system administrator must re-enter his or her password to verify that it was entered correctly the first time. The password information will be starred out as it is entered so that an observer will be unable to read it.
System Administrator E-Mail: the e-mail address of the system administrator.
Help: this button takes the user to the help screen for the Elections Administrator.
Cancel: this button takes the user back to the Function Selection Dialogue Box without recording any changes.
Accept Changes: this button commits all of the changes made in this dialogue box to the database and returns the user to the Function Selection Dialogue Box.

Identification information incorrect: this error appears if the information entered in the "System Administrator User Name" and "System Administrator Password" fields does not match the correct current login information for the system administrator or if these fields are left blank.
Password does not match: this error appears if the user presses the "Accept"" button after having entered different information in the "New Password" and "Re-Enter New Password" fields.

Questions or comments: cory@uoguelph.ca

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