Elections at universities in 2025: Experience and help shape democracy digitally!

Elections at universities in 2025: Experience and help shape democracy digitally!

The election time at the University of Paderborn is approaching. From May 26th to June 2nd, 2025, all members of the university who are eligible to vote have the opportunity to cast their vote. These include university lecturers, scientific staff, technical and administrative staff and students. This election allows members to actively participate in shaping university self-government.

The elected committees include the Senate, the faculty councils of the five faculties, the student parliament (StuPa) and the student council bodies. The term of office of the elected representatives begins on October 1, 2025 and ends on September 30, 2027. The student representatives have a shorter term of office until September 30, 2026. The election results for all mentioned bodies can be viewed online, which promotes transparency and ensures compliance with democratic processes, such as uni-paderborn.de reported.

Digital voting: A straightforward process

Voting takes place via a digital voting portal, which is accessible around the clock and regardless of location. To take part in the election, voters must log in to the ZIM service portal. The process is simple and includes the following steps:

1. Im ZIM-Serviceportal einloggen.
2. „Zum Wahlportal“ anklicken (ab Wahlbeginn geöffnet).
3. „Eidesstattliche Versicherung“ bestätigen und „Weiter zur Stimmabgabe“ klicken.
4. Wahlentscheidungen treffen.
5. Stimmabgabe überprüfen und verbindlich abgeben.
6. Eine automatische Bestätigung der Stimmabgabe erhalten.
7. Einloggen gegebenenfalls beenden.

To support voters, there are sample instructions for voting, including screenshots that visualize the process. Loud stupa.uni-paderborn.de The StuPa-O-Mat is another useful tool to make voting decisions easier.

The importance of elections in university politics

Elections are a central element of democracy, including in university politics. They enable the members of the university to represent their interests or to act as interest representatives themselves. Elections in the student body take place every year, including elections to the student parliament and the student councils as well as to the student councils and university committees such as the senate and faculty councils. The election cycles are diverse, including the election for the 54th student parliament this year.

The complexity of university elections often entails high financial and personnel costs. Various representatives work together in these committees to take the concerns of students and employees into account. While some representatives are elected directly, others can exert influence on other committees through various groups of voters, such as polyas.de describes.

University democracy requires continuous efforts to simplify the electoral process. Online elections, which have already been tested at various universities, could both reduce effort and increase voter turnout. At the University of Potsdam, discussions about the advantages of digital elections have sparked a noticeable amount of interest.