ÖH Election Date is Set
In total, around 350,000 students at 77 universities are allowed to vote for their representation in the ÖH election for the next two academic years. Those who want to vote must be enrolled by March 25th.
ÖH Election: Polaschek Appeals to Vote
Traditionally, the election date is determined every two years in agreement between the Ministry and the ÖH. The voting must take place over three days from Tuesday to Thursday in the spring, with not too many options remaining due to the Thursday holidays as well as Easter and Pentecost. "The ÖH elections are a central democratic element for Austria's students," says Polaschek. "I therefore appeal to all students: Go vote and exercise your right to vote."
Currently, a left-wing coalition of the Association of Socialist Students (VSStÖ), Greens and Alternative Students (GRAS) and Communist Student Association - Left List (KSV-Lili) is at the head of the ÖH federal representation. In addition to the nationwide student parliament, the representations at the individual universities and in the individual studies are also newly elected. In the 2023 election, the voter turnout was 21.2 percent.
Those Who Want to Vote in the ÖH Election Must Be Enrolled by March 25th
Various deadlines also need to be observed this year: The cut-off date for eligibility to vote on March 25th is exactly seven weeks before the first day of voting. Those who want to vote must have paid the ÖH contribution and possibly the tuition fees by then. Attention: This deadline does not coincide with the usual grace period for enrollment.
From April 3, postal voting cards can be requested for the mail-in vote, with the last day to do so being May 6 (one week before the first day of voting). The deadline for submitting election proposals (groups) ends on April 8, and for candidacies (student representation) on April 17. After the respective improvement periods, it will be determined on April 22 which election proposals and candidacies will be accepted.
On May 9 (Friday) and May 10 (Saturday), educational institutions that offer part-time or dual degree programs can advance one or two voting days. This way, working students who only come to the universities on weekends can also participate in the election on site.
ÖH Election: New Term of Office from July 1
The election result must be announced by May 22, any objections can be raised up to two weeks after the announcement. By the end of June, the new ÖH Federal Representation must then constitute itself - the term of office of the new ÖH leadership begins on July 1.
Problems were caused in the last election by a new electronic election administration system, directly commissioned by the ÖH Federal Representation from a private company. Previously, the Federal Computing Centre was entrusted with the technical implementation by the Ministry of Education. In the run-up, the electoral roll was completed too late in 2023, and during the election itself, voting was temporarily not possible due to server problems. In the end, the final result was not published as usual on the night after the election, but only after the following weekend. The new system will also be used this time. Based on the experiences from 2023, it has been further developed with the involvement of the chairpersons of the election commissions or their deputies.
At the same time, several changes to the Student Union Election Regulations are also being reviewed, which reflect already made changes to the Student Union Act. Among other things, student unions should be obliged to switch from income-expenditure accounting to double-entry bookkeeping.
(APA/red)
This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.