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Law students launch a platform for the European elections – Here’s how it works!
Three law students from the University of Hanover are launching the website auswaehlt.eu for the 2024 European elections to improve voter information.
Law students launch a platform for the European elections – Here’s how it works!
In a remarkable step to promote political participation among committed young people, three law students from Leibniz University Hannover have launched an innovative online platform for the European elections. The website www.ausgewaehlt.eu was funded by the Federal Agency for Civic Education and aims to make it easier for voters to access important information about the European elections.
The platform presents the positions of a total of 14 parties, including big names such as CDU/CSU, SPD, and AfD. Users can read the parties' answers to seven key topic areas in a concise 280 characters. If you want deeper insights, you have the option to click on a more button, which provides additional information in 1500 characters.
Goals of the platform
Maximilian Nussbaum, Martin Suchrow and Julian Kay, the initiators of the project, developed a similar website for the federal election in 2017, which received 46,000 clicks in just two weeks. At that time, over 90% of users were between 18 and 34 years old. This shows that there is enormous interest in political participation in this age group.
On selected.eu The parties' arguments are presented simply and comparatively, facilitated by questions that may not yet be integrated into the political discourse. The project is supported by the Youth Democracy Prize 2019, which is awarded to initiatives dealing with the European Union and the upcoming elections.
The Youth Democracy Prize and its meaning
The Youth Democracy Prize is traditionally awarded in November and honors projects that promote youth participation. The award ceremony took place as part of a youth congress at the European Education Center for the Housing and Real Estate Industry in Bochum. The winner of 2019 was the project “Mittweida chooses Europe”, which was selected by a youth jury.
The focus of the Youth Democracy Prize in 2019 was the motto “The European IDEA – IDEAL OR DEAD?”, which was intended to encourage participants to think about the future of Europe and the relevance of the European idea. The jury, consisting of young people between the ages of 17 and 27, evaluated various projects that included many different formats from discussions to video clips to theater performances.
The context of the 2024 European elections
Looking into the future, the European Parliament elections will take place from June 6th to 9th, 2024. During this time, EU citizens elect MEPs, representing around 450 million people. A total of 720 parliamentarians will be elected, 96 of them from Germany, making the country the largest representation in parliament.
In Germany, 16-year-olds are allowed to take part in elections for the first time, which represents an important step towards including young people. The entire electoral process is supported by the Federal Agency for Civic Education, which provides helpful resources, including the Wahl-O-Mat, which helps voters compare their positions with those of the parties.
Given the importance of the upcoming elections, the website selected.eu an important tool to give young people the opportunity to obtain comprehensive information about European issues and the associated political positions.
For further information, interested parties can contact Maximilian Nussbaum on 0162 977 38 07 or via email at info@ausgewaehlt.org.