Election fever at JLU: Students’ influence on the future!

Election fever at JLU: Students’ influence on the future!

The elections for the Senate and the department councils at Justus Liebig University (JLU) will take place this summer semester. From May 20, 2025, when postal voting documents are sent, to June 30, 2025, the last election day, university members have the opportunity to actively participate in shaping JLU. A critical goal of these elections is to strengthen the boards and encourage high voter turnout to positively influence the future of the institution. Members are encouraged to inform themselves about the positions of the various higher education policy groups and to take these into account when making their voting decision. Information about the elections is available on the JLU website available.

The ability to vote both online and by mail underscores the University's intent to make the voting process as inclusive and accessible as possible. The high complexity of university elections, as analyzed by various studies and events, leads to considerable financial and personnel costs. This complexity results not only from the large number of committees, including the student body, the student parliament and the academic senate, but also from the need for individual ballot papers for various groups of voters. This can additionally increase the organizational effort.

University democracy and its challenges

University democracy enables students, employees and professors to influence self-government. This is done by elected representatives who serve on various committees. However, university elections bring with them a number of challenges. The distribution of seats on some boards is not proportional, giving some groups more influence than others. In addition, university elections take place almost every year, which increases the burden on universities.

To simplify the election process, many universities are looking for innovative solutions. Online elections have already proven themselves in several institutions and could be a way to significantly reduce both organizational effort and costs. Such a system could also help increase voter turnout, a goal that became clear during a panel discussion at the University of Potsdam.

A step into the digital future

A central aspect of the discussion about university elections is the digitalization of the election process. The introduction of online voting could not only increase efficiency but also encourage wider participation. The need for clear guidance and information regarding the requirements for online voting is becoming increasingly relevant. Universities are actively working on solutions to address the challenges of the elections and enable their members to participate easily and quickly.

The upcoming elections at JLU not only offer a platform for student and academic participation, but also reflect the challenges and opportunities of digital transformation at universities in Germany. For further information about the elections and the associated processes, those interested can Polya's website visit.