Shocking turnout reveals election apathy

Leaders of this year’s council have been selected – despite a dismal turnout in the elections. 

According to KCLSU, a “huge” 1367 students “made their voices heard”. But the reality is that KCL has around 26,000 students, meaning that this election’s turnout stands at an embarrassingly low 5.2 per cent.

The majority of votes came from students in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, who accounted for 26.77% of the vote.

Meanwhile student midwives and nurses cast only a pitiful 27 votes.

Pav, a 2nd year midwifery student, said: “I didn’t know anything about the student elections. The elections weren’t really talked about, and people didn’t seem to really care about voting, running or campaigning.”

And this overwhelming sense of apathy seems present across KCL.

Tom, a 2nd year history student, also told The Tab: “I don’t think anyone I’ve spoken to really has any faith that anything will change, whatever happens in the elections. Either way, the advertising was so poor that it was  easy to miss the deadline.”

Reinstated Environmental and Ethics Officer Alberto Torres was also disappointed by the lack of participation.

He said: “One of the things I found when campaigning is that either people are unaware that elections are happening, or they don’t see how the Students’ Union works in their interests.”

“Voting is a very effortless form of student participation, but it will not occur if students do not feel part of the union in the first place. We need a union that engages students and shows them that we can change things when we work together.”

But despite the low turnout, surprisingly, this year’s voting figures actually show a rise in participation since last year.

New Student Council Chair Anthony Shaw said: “The thing to remember is that this year 300 more people voted than last year and this is a continuing trend of increasing turnout year on year which we have now seen for a number of years.

“Is there an issue? Yes. There always is with student elections, but that is solved by the council working for students and delivering for the student body. From the looks of the great councillors that have been elected, that’s sure to happen.”

You can check out your newly elected Change Makers here.