Why are you voting?

As elections all over Europe have shown, the far-right is enjoying a popularity not seen in the last 30-40 years. But talking to most people around campus makes you wonder how parties like UKIP got even half the amount of votes that they did.

Political opinions tend to swing firmly to the left among the student population, although the right shouldn’t be discounted – The Conservative Party at Warwick enjoys support from quite a few students, and to call all students lefties is a generalisation that they may not be happy with.

However, although many people I’ve talked to display generally socialist sentiments, there are swathes of the student population who didn’t vote, despite pressure from those who did. There are also some who may have voted merely because they felt

that they had to, rather than out of any genuine political engagement. After all, there are some incredibly politically active students at this university, and with every student who lives on-campus automatically registered by the SU, it would be simple to coerce those less active students into voting.

There are also some who may have voted merely because they felt that they had to, rather than out of any genuine political engagement.

With this in mind, and as one of the more pushy students (I spent the weeks leading up to the elections reminding everyone in my flat and on my course to vote, as I believe that not voting takes away the right to a political opinion), I decided to talk to some students around campus and see if and why people had voted. Jenny Turvey, a First-Year French and Italian student, has said “I decided to vote, but I don’t think my individual vote has made much of a difference. It’s only if we can galvanise a group to collectively vote that a difference can be made, and the performance of right-wing parties doesn’t necessarily demonstrate their popularity, but rather, a sense of apathy among the left who are unaware of the options available.”

Surprisingly, the more I talked to friends, the more I found that many had voted. Olivia McLaughlin, a Second-Year French and History student, told me that “not voting has never been an option. As idyllic as the revolution Russell Brand described may seem, the reality is that in abstaining from voting, all you do is allow unfavourable parties to gain power.  I voted because I care about the rights of the people in Britain and because I want my voice to be heard.” This determination is admirable, but unfortunately many students don’t feel the same, simply because they don’t know why they should. Several friends of mine didn’t vote because they were unsure exactly what they would have been voting for.

…many are shamefully unaware of why they should vote for a specific party, and so out of fear of voting for the “wrong” party, they refrain from voting altogether.

This is the heart of the problem. We are not taught what the EU is, or what it does, and the only time we hear about it is when it appears to meddle in our lives, although this is often fear-mongering by tabloid newspapers. Therefore, when the European elections come round, many are shamefully unaware of why they should vote for a specific party, and so out of fear of voting for the “wrong” party, they refrain from voting altogether.

Parents can also be a big influence on who to vote for, as Kathy Emery, a First-Year German and Business student, points out – “I wanted to vote, but I wouldn’t have prioritised it if I’d had other commitments that day. Although my vote was my decision, and I was reasonably informed before voting, many students vote in the same way as their parents, so when they vote, it can seem as if they’re going through the motions.”

Despite this, some students have strong convictions when it comes to voting. Matthew Chester, a Second-Year Biomed student, has said that he voted “because there are going to be some incredibly important decisions made by the European Parliament over the next few years, such as TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership).” However, as he points out, “a lot of students hadn’t realised they needed to register in time, so they were unable to vote.” This is the other problem when it comes to getting young people to vote. Due to the pressures of Term 3, voting becomes a luxury, and there is no governmental drive to get voters to register, which can mean that someone who planned to vote would find themselves in the awkward position of being unable to do so, and therefore effectively wasting a vote.

The most recent turnout across Europe was the lowest on record, and shows how little regard many Europeans have for the European Parliament. Every vote counts, and Franklin Roosevelt says it best – “Nobody will ever deprive the people of the right to vote except the people themselves, and the only way they could do this is by not voting.”

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Photo: flickr/kcivey