Rules & Eligibility

Official guidelines, requirements, and regulations for the DhaqanLens Cultural Photography Competition.

info1. Overview

DhaqanLens is a prestigious student photography competition designed to capture, preserve, and celebrate Somali culture and heritage through a modern lens. By participating in this competition, contestants and voters agree to abide by the rules, terms, and guidelines outlined below.

groups2. Contestant Eligibility

To submit a photo and participate as a candidate on the leaderboard, individuals must meet the following criteria:

Academic Status: Candidates must be currently enrolled students at SIMAD University.
Submission Integrity: All submitted photographs must be original work captured by the contestant. Plagiarism, copyright infringement, or submitting work belonging to others will result in immediate disqualification.
Content Focus: Submissions must celebrate Somali culture, traditions, architecture, scenery, or community life. Images containing inappropriate or unrelated subjects will be removed by the administration.
Single Entry: Each eligible student is allowed to submit exactly one entry for the duration of the active round.

how_to_vote3. Voting Guidelines

The platform utilizes a secure, authenticated voting system to ensure fairness and transparency:

Voter Authentication: Voters must sign in using a verified Google account. Regular Google accounts are fully supported for casting votes.
Vote Limits: Every authenticated user is limited to exactly one vote in total across the entire competition round.
Finality: Once a vote is cast, it is permanent. Votes cannot be deleted, transferred, or updated.

gavel4. Fair Play & Security Auditing

To protect the integrity of the DhaqanLens competition, the system employs advanced monitoring and audit trails:

Fraud Detection: The platform logs the IP address hash, session details, and registration logs for every cast vote.
Disqualification: Any candidate found using bot networks, automated scripts, fake Google accounts, or duplicate profiles to inflate vote counts will be disqualified from the leaderboard immediately.
Admin Discretion: The administration reserves the right to suspend voting, audit logs, or adjust timelines as necessary to resolve technical issues or investigate cheating.

groups2. Contestant Eligibility

To submit a photo and participate as a candidate on the leaderboard, individuals must meet the following criteria:

Academic Status: Candidates must be currently enrolled students at SIMAD University.

Submission Integrity: All submitted photographs must be original work captured by the contestant. Plagiarism, copyright infringement, or submitting work belonging to others will result in immediate disqualification.

Content Focus: Submissions must celebrate Somali culture, traditions, architecture, scenery, or community life. Images containing inappropriate or unrelated subjects will be removed by the administration.

Single Entry: Each eligible student is allowed to submit exactly one entry for the duration of the active round.

how_to_vote3. Voting Guidelines

The platform utilizes a secure, authenticated voting system to ensure fairness and transparency:

Voter Authentication: Voters must sign in using a verified Google account. Regular Google accounts are fully supported for casting votes.

Vote Limits: Every authenticated user is limited to exactly one vote in total across the entire competition round.

Finality: Once a vote is cast, it is permanent. Votes cannot be deleted, transferred, or updated.

gavel4. Fair Play & Security Auditing

To protect the integrity of the DhaqanLens competition, the system employs advanced monitoring and audit trails:

Fraud Detection: The platform logs the IP address hash, session details, and registration logs for every cast vote.

Disqualification: Any candidate found using bot networks, automated scripts, fake Google accounts, or duplicate profiles to inflate vote counts will be disqualified from the leaderboard immediately.

Admin Discretion: The administration reserves the right to suspend voting, audit logs, or adjust timelines as necessary to resolve technical issues or investigate cheating.