Students want to take part in the university elections — but they need information

It is November and the last month of autumn. It is also the University of Copenhagen (UCPH) elections month. Campus is gradually being adorned with various slogans and issues on election posters. But with a turnout down at a meagre 14 per cent for the past couple of years, you might be tempted to ask whether students even know that the elections are taking place?

The University Post visited three different campuses to investigate.

We start our vox pop at the CSS campus that houses the social science study programmes. Here, it is safe to assume, elections usually take up more space than in the general public. We wonder if this holds true for the university elections?

Students of anthropology: We have seen the posters

We catch up with Johannes von Eyben and Marie Nissen in the central courtyard of CSS campus. They are on their way home from classes, and both study anthropology on the first semester.

Do you know that university elections are coming up?

They both nod. Johannes speaks for both of them: »Well, we’ve noticed the posters that just came up, but we have no idea what it’s about.«

Do you have any suggestions on how more attention can be drawn to the university elections?

Johannes: »Maybe you could get someone out to talk about it in classroom teaching or at lectures.«

I could easily see myself forgetting it

Johannes von Eyben, anthropology student, first semester

 

Marie adds, »We would also like to know why this is relevant to us.«

Do you have any important issues you would like to put on the agenda for the upcoming university elections?

Both stress the social science programmes’ imminent move to South Campus.

Marie: »I’ve read that 75 per cent of our communal spaces will be cut back in this connection. I find this problematic. The one thing that makes the CSS campus good is that there are a lot of good places where we can sit together outside a formal teaching setting.«

Are you going to vote?

Johannes: »I could easily see myself forgetting it if more information doesn’t come out about the election.«

Sociology students: The election needs more PR

In the anthropology and sociology student café Katten, we find four master’s degree students putting the finishing touches on their group work before going in for some supervision. They have just started their master’s programme in sociology. One of them has switched from Roskilde University to UCPH.

Do you know that we have university elections coming up?

They all nod, and Søren says that they have started seeing election posters around campus.

You’ve been students for a couple of years now. Do you usually vote in university elections?

They all shake their heads.

Why not?

Søren: »I don’t think I’ve seen the importance of it. I think more PR is needed.«

The turnout is always relatively low for university elections. Do you think this is due to a lack of information or a lack of interest?

Jonathan: »I come from Roskilde University, where we also have university elections, and I got the impression there that everything was a bit superficial. I never really found out what happened to those who were elected – whether they actually had any impact on things.«

Do you have any important issues you would like to put on the agenda for the upcoming university elections?

None of them can think of anything until Søren says: »I don’t get too involved in student life, so all I can really think of is more toilets at CSS campus.«

The others laugh a little before agreeing.

Is it possible that you might vote?

Søren: »Yes, now I might.«

So could the others, they confirm. Then they fold up their laptops and hurry off to their supervision.

Medical student: I am not voting

We cycle on to the Panum complex to see if the mood is any different among the future doctors and dentists. The long, straight corridors are packed with students. Many of them are milling around waiting for their oral exams. We catch up with Bjarke Børding, a fourth-semester medicine student on his way to get a cup of coffee.

Do you know that we have university elections coming up?

»No, I didn’t.«

I have not studied the issues, so I do not feel I should vote.

Bjarke Børding

Do you think this is due to a lack of information or a lack of interest?

»Probably lack of interest. I’m studying here to get an education, not to vote for people who might be able to make my education better.«

Do you have any important issues you would like to put on the agenda for the upcoming university elections?

»No, not really. I think things work very well.«

Do you think you will vote in the next university election?

»No, I don’t. I have not studied the issues, so I don’t feel that I should vote.«

It takes time to get to understand the election

We go to the KUA complex on South Campus. Even though the day is grey and cold, Marie Moser is sitting outside to get some air. She is on her third semester as a student of the study of religion, and she wants to talk about the university elections. She thinks it is important, even though she did not vote last year.

Do you know that we have university elections coming up?

»Yes, I’m starting to see some posters around campus.«

Have you voted in these elections before?

»No, I haven’t.«

The turnout is normally around 14 per cent. Do you think the low turnout is due to a lack of interest or a lack of information?

»Clearly a lack of information. Despite the many posters around campus, it is still confusing to find out who it is that believes what, and what the difference is between the different candidates. Nor do I know how much influence they will have once they are elected.«

Do you have any important issues you would like to put on the agenda for the upcoming university elections?

»Now I don’t know what is realistic for a university election, but I would like the new SU [Danish study grant] rules to be looked at. And otherwise, it would be great if there were more focus on the study environment. In addition, I am myself on a very small degree programme, and we often feel that we are given a lower priority compared to the larger study programmes, and it would be nice if there was more focus on this.«

You didn’t vote last year – how come?

»I had just started then, and I had seen that it was there, but I was very unsure about what it really was.«

Will you be voting this year?

»I would like to, but it requires me to spend some time familiarising myself with it.«

Philosophy student: I submitted a blank vote last year

We meet Sebastian Dohn inside one of the KUA South Campus libraries. He has a thick Heidegger book in front of him, thereby revealing that he is a student of philosophy. He says that he is on his third semester and that he is up for a bit of procrastination.

Do you know that we have university elections coming up?

»Yes, I just saw a poster with it.«

Have you voted before?

»Yes, I voted last year. You got to get a croissant by doing it.«

What did you vote?

»I cast a blank vote because I didn’t think I had put enough effort into it, so I did it mostly for the croissant.«

If I still have any doubts, I will vote blank.

Sebastian Dohm

The turnout is always relatively low for university elections. Do you think this is due to a lack of interest or a lack of information?

»Probably the latter. If there had been some debate where I had just heard some candidates talk about their issues, I feel I would have known who to vote for.«

Do you have any important issues you would like to put on the agenda for the upcoming university elections?

»At the last university election, some people had as their main issue to put more focus on psychological assistance. I thought that was very cool. Issues like the one on two-factor authentication, that doesn’t really interest me.«

Do you think you’ll be voting anything but blank this year?

»Possibly. If I still have any doubts, I will vote blank. But if I suddenly become aware of something I think is cool, then I will definitely vote for it.«

What needs to happen?

All in all, the University Post’s tour of the campus is testimony to the fact that some enthusiasm for the university elections might be awakened, if only more information was made available to students. Few of the people we met are totally uninterested in the upcoming election – they just don’t think they know enough about what the election is really about.

The students we met needed both practical information about where, when and how to vote. And they want more knowledge. About key issues. About how much power their newly elected fellow students actually have. And sufficient knowledge to be able to put a reasonably qualified tick on a ballot that they can identify with.

There is still time: The election takes place between 25 and 29 November.