Trent throw ‘full support’ behind professor reported to police for telling students to vote

Nottingham Trent University have given their "full support" to one of their professors who recieved an onslaught of backlash from a recent tweet informing students that they are able to register to vote in both their home and uni addresses, the Nottingham Tab can reveal.

The tweet was posted on Thursday 31st October, and shortly after the professor, Carrie Paechter, started to receive negative responses that claim she was advocating that students vote twice in the election, which she told The Guardian she firmly denies. By the following Sunday she had blocked 568 of these "trolls".

She was reported to the police and the Electoral Commission, and someone wrote to her vice-chancellor calling for her to be disciplined.

Professor Carrie Paechter told The Nottingham Tab that she "was astounded when what I saw as a straightfoward informative tweet led to such a torrent of abuse. Students have been able to register to vote at their home and university addresses for many years, but there seems to be less awareness of it now.

"Given that this general election comes around the end of term for many universities, it's harder for students to know where they will be on the day, so I wanted to make sure that people knew they could register in both places and not miss out on their rights as citizens.

"I think it's really important that everyone votes – the result of any election has a profound effect on our lives and we need to make sure we take the chance to influence that."

When reached for comment a Nottingham Trent University spokesperson told The Nottingham Tab: "As a university, we have a legal obligation to encourage our students to register to vote in the upcoming general election, as well as an important role in developing active and responsible citizens.

"We take this duty very seriously and, along with the Students' Union, are regularly reminding students of the need to register and the importance of using their vote.

"Professor Carrie Paechter was correct that students may register at two addresses, although they may only vote once, and we encourage all our colleagues to remind students of this right. The abuse that Professor Paechter recieved online was unacceptable and she has our full support."