Hochschule Geisenheim University Senate Elections 2024/25

The members of Hochschule Geisenheim University are requested to submit election proposals on the provided form by December 16, 2024, 12:00 pm at the latest, to the election office in room 116, 1st floor of the administration building. The form template can be found here.
Only election proposals that are submitted in person on the completed and signed form will be accepted (see also HGU election regulations, §12). Election proposals by email can therefore unfortunately not be considered.

Each nomination may contain any number of names of eligible voters who are willing to stand for election; their order must be evident from the nomination. An appropriate representation of women and men should be sought in accordance with their proportion in the group of members.

A sufficient number of candidates should be named in the nomination lists in order to be able to send enough deputies to the extended Senate. Each candidate may only be named on one list of candidates.

The election committee publishes the approved election proposals (nomination lists) immediately after examination.

You will receive your election documents by e-mail to your HGU e-mail account on January 21, 2025 at 12:00 noon. In your election invitation you will find information about the upcoming election as well as your personalized access data. Now you can decide for yourself when and from where you would like to cast your vote during the election period - your choice.

The subject of the election invitation is: Your election invitation: Senate and StuPa election WS 2024/2025 of Hochschule Geisenheim University. 

This email is signed by: voting@polyas.com

You can cast your vote from January 21, 2025 at 12:00 pm to January 27, 2025 at 12:00 pm.

1. registration: Entering the access data
You can access the online voting system with two access data: Your personal voter ID and a one-time-valid password. Please note that your access data is case-sensitive when logging in.

2. confirmation of registration: Anonymization
The voting system checks whether your data is stored in the electoral roll. Access to the voting system is only granted if you are authorized to vote. Find out more about secure authentication.

3. your online vote: your voting decision
The ballot paper is now displayed and you can vote. You can distribute your available votes to electoral lists, candidates or ballots at the click of a mouse. You can also cast an “invalid” vote.

4. checking your vote
Once you have completed your ballot paper, it will be shown to you again for confirmation. You can then submit your final vote.

5. finalizing your vote
After you have cast your final vote, you will receive confirmation that your vote has been received in the digital ballot box. Your vote is then complete. You can then close the browser window.

Link to the explanation video

Election Regulations:
The Senate elections at Hochschule Geisenheim University in the 2023/24 winter semester are to be conducted in accordance with the university's election regulations (Wahlordnung der Hochschule Geisenheim) of January 23, 2013, last amended on December 15, 2020 (Official Notice 07/2020), on the basis of the Hessian Higher Education Act.

Election Principles: 
The representatives of the member groups in the Senate shall be elected in free, equal, secret, and direct elections by the respective member group according to the principles of party-list proportional representation. The form of election shall be determined by whether there is one nomination per member group or whether several nominations are submitted.

Proportional Representation:
If there are several approved nominations for election in a group, the election is conducted according to the rules of proportional representation. Each eligible voter has one vote, which they can assign to a list of nominations.

Direct Election:
If only one nomination or one list of candidates has been accepted in a group, the election is held according to the rules of a direct election. Each eligible voter has as many votes as there are seats in the Senate to be filled by the respective group.

If at least one further list proposal is submitted within the same member group for an election proposal that has already been submitted to the election office, elections are held according to the principles of proportional representation. In this case, the order of the candidates listed is decisive. 

A sufficient number of candidates should be named in the nomination lists in order to be able to delegate enough substitutes to the extended Senate. Each candidate may only be named on one list of candidates.

Substitutes:
Substitutes for the Senate members are also determined during elections to the Senate (proportional representation). Substitutes are the list members who are listed after the elected members of the Senate on the nomination list (in accordance with the number of mandates allocated to the list).

If only one nomination is submitted for a group (direct election), the candidates who have not been allocated a seat on the basis of the election results and who have the next highest number of votes are substitutes. If a list of candidates contains fewer candidates than the maximum number of seats the group is entitled to, the remaining seats shall remain vacant.

Term of Office:
The term of office begins on the first day of the semester following the election (April 1).
The term of office for representatives elected by the student group is one year. The representatives from the other groups are each in office for two years.