UvA elects | Student council elections underway

Voting for new faculty-student councils and a new Central Student Council (CSR) is open at all faculties this week. According to a spokesperson for the voting office, voting is in full swing and no technical problems have been detected as of yet.

At every faculty, one or more parties are competing for the favor of voters, more and more of whom have an international, non-Dutch background. This is now also reflected in the participating student parties, where dozens of international students are on the lists.

Way out

The elections fall exactly in the week after the Central Student Council demanded the resignation of the Executive Board in response to last week’s large-scale protests and police intervention. Whether that demand is still realistic remains to be seen, now that the current CSR is effectively on its way out.

Last year, every faculty recorded relatively high turnout figures, and the Central Student Council (CSR) turnout was as high as 16 percent. It seems low - and it is low - but compared to previous years, it was a substantial increase, which seemed to be mostly due to the participation of internationals. Whether that trend continues will be seen next week when the results are announced.

Tiered

The composition of the CSR is tiered. The council has 14 seats, seven of which are directly elected. The other seven seats are delegated by the faculty-student councils, with (in principle) each of the seven faculty-student councils delegating one member to the CSR. And so we will get to a council of 14 members, which will elect a board from among its members at the end of June. Next Wednesday, Folia will announce the intermediate tally of the turnout. The election results will be announced on May 22nd in Crea’s Muziekzaal.

Digital polling stations are open from May 13th-17th. Check here.