Motivation for voting revealed in poll

A poll amongst Warwick students conducted by the Boar has revealed which factors students felt influenced their choice of presidential candidate most.

Unsurprisingly, a large majority of students polled said that their vote went to the candidate whose policies they were most impressed by; 48 per cent said that the manifestos published online and in the Union-produced elections booklet were the most influential factors in their consideration of the candidates.

Accusations that the elections are a popularity contest rather than a political contest were neither confirmed nor quashed by the Boar’s poll. 24 per cent of students polled said that their vote went to a candidate with whom they had a personal connection. Paul Crooks, a third year physics student, echoed this sentiment, confirming that, “if you know people then you care about them getting in.”

The third most influential factor in student voting was the advertising that flooded campus during the run up to the opening of voting on Wednesday. Almost every candidate for the presidency had a website dedicated to their cause, a manifesto video on the internet, and numerous posters stuck up around campus. In the end, this publicity affected the way a significant number of students voted; 18 per cent said that the most decisive factor in their voting decision was the publicity that each candidate had produced. A number of students appear to have based their endorsements of particular candidates on less obvious factors. 6 per cent of students said that they voted based on a recommendation from another student, whilst slightly fewer- 4 per cent -admitted that they voted primarily because of the physical appearance of each candidate. Whatever the motivation, this year’s Union elections boasted a much higher voting turnout than last year; 4712 of those eligible voted this year compared with 3772 votes in 2008- an increase of almost exactly 25 per cent. Simran Singh, a first year law student, suggested that this increase may be because students are aware that the elections “affect us financially” and because the process is “interesting to watch”. However, some students still feel that the voting process is too complicated. Akimi Ishituka, also in her first year and studying law, felt that the elections are “confusing” and that “to vote you need to know what’s going on”.