Student elections move online ‘to reduce apathy’

Students’ council elections at the University of Malta will take place online for the first time today, after the proposal was approved by the current student council last week. The move is intended to reduce the “current culture of student apathy”, according to student Dario Cacopardo, who spearheaded the initiative. Noting that last year’s council elections achieved a turnout of only 20 per cent, Mr Cacopardo hoped the move away from the traditional paper ballot system would make elections at the university more accessible. “The issue with the KSU elections was that all students had to come to the Tal-Qroqq campus to vote, with the exception of students who study at the Gozo and Valletta campuses,” he said. He added that he was confident voter turnout would increase and hoped that more Gozitan and Erasmus students and those on placements away from the Tal-Qroqq campus would be encouraged to vote. Mr Cacopardo admitted there was a “culture of student apathy” at the university but noted that the elections’ partisan element meant students were more likely to participate. He said he had personally witnessed the links between the Labour and Nationalist parties and the students’...