LUU election sees lowest voter turnout in years

You probably didn’t vote did you


This years Union exec elections has suffered from the lowest voter numbers in a number of years, with only 6561 students bothering to vote on who will run LUU next year. This is down from 7744 in 2016 and 8488 in 2015.

To put that into perspective, with over 9000 votes, more of you voted in The Tab’s “Leeds’ finest singles” than those of you who voted on who should be in charge of the Union.

The low turnout could be attributed to a number of things, such as an earlier and shorter campaign period, or the distinct lack of good (or bad depending on how you look at it) campaign videos.

This year’s campaign videos are nothing like last years

In the last few days of voting the Union even attempted to encourage people to vote by running competitions for £50 cash, Leeds Ball tickets. fruity tickets and even free pints. So you missed a golden opportunity by not voting.

The low turnout has been criticised by some in Union circles, current Community Officer Jamie Ali, told The Tab “Well done to all the candidates. But I’ve been very disappointed by such a low turnout. We as this year’s exec need to work with whoever’s announced tomorrow as the new exec to look at why we’ve had the lowest turnout in probably a decade, something that’s been a trend over the last few years.”

“We’re failing on something that goes deeper than just moving the election date or offering free Fruity tickets and printer credits. A high turnout is so fundamental to our credibility and mandate as the voice of students”

Voting closed yesterday at 4pm and the results will be announced at 6pm tonight.