Translation of the Notice of Student Parliament Elections 2026

Dear student body,

The Student Election Committee (StWA) of the University of Potsdam announces the elections to the student parliament for the 2026/2027 legislature in accordance with § 68 of the “Brandenburgisches Hochschulgesetz” of 09th April 2024, GVBl.I/24 [No. 12], last amended by Article 2 of the Act of 21st June 2024, GVBl.I/24 [No. 30], in conjunction with the “Satzung der Studierendenschaft der Universität Potsdam” of 13th July 2005 in the version of 07th November 2017 (AmBek UP No. 12/2018, pages 664–675) and the “Rahmenwahlordnung der Studierendenschaft der Universität Potsdam” of 06th December 2005 in the version of 06th February 2018 (AmBek UP No. 01/2019, pages 14–19).

Contact with the StWA: Unless otherwise stated, the StWA can only be contacted via e-mail to stwaulists.astauppde from an e-mail address of the University of Potsdam.

I. Central Dates
    • Submission of nominations: by 18th June 2026, 12:00
    • Election days: 16th to 17th July 2026, each from 09:30 to 15:30
    • Participation by postal vote: Application to StWA by 11th July 2026 may be necessary. See section VI. Postal Vote.

II. Committee Members to be elected
For the student parliament 27 members are to be elected according to § 10 (1) of the Statutes of the Student Body. The term of office begins with the constitution of the student parliament and lasts one year. It ends with the constitution of the following student parliament.

III. Polling Stations, Eligibility & Entitlement to Vote
The eligible voters can vote in the following polling stations:
    • Faculty of Law, Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences: Campus Griebnitzsee, Digital Engineering Faculty: HPI-Campus I, Main Building, Belvedere
    • Faculty of Human Sciences, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences: Campus Golm, House 18 (IKMZ), lecture room
    • Faculty of Philosophy, central postal voting office: Campus Am Neuen Palais, House 8, Auditorium Maximum (Foyer)
    • The Faculty of Health Sciences participates by postal vote at each of the three polling stations.

In addition, postal voting is possible in accordance with § 18 of the “Rahmenwahlordnung der Studierendenschaft” (RWO). Further information can be found in section VI. Postal Vote.

All enrolled students of the University of Potsdam are entitled to vote and eligible for election in accordance with § 6 (1) and § 7 (1) RWO. Persons entitled to vote may only vote if they are listed in the electoral register. According to § 13 (1) RWO, the university’s register of enrolled students constitutes the electoral register.

Until 11 June 2026, 12:00 noon, the electoral register can be inspected upon request via [stwaulists.astauppde](mailto:stwaulists.astauppde) at the StWA and objections can be submitted informally. The assignment of students to a faculty depends on the first subject of study. Students who are members of more than one faculty may informally submit declarations to the StWA until 11 June 2026, 12:00 noon, stating in which faculty they wish to exercise their voting rights. In the absence of such a declaration, the determination in the electoral register applies.

IV. Election Principles and Electoral System

Election Principles
The members of the student parliament are elected by students at the University of Potsdam in direct, free, equal, and secret elections according to the principles of personalized proportional representation based on lists drawn up based on valid election proposals. All persons entitled to vote can vote by selecting one or more candidates from one or more lists, but no more than three candidates. Any accumulation of votes on individual candidates shall result in the invalidity of the vote.

Distribution of Seats
The seats are allocated to Sainte-Laguë/Schepers using the provisional method with standard rounding. The seats then allocated to the individual lists are allocated within the lists in the order of the number of votes obtained by the candidates, a so-called open list election. In case of a tie of votes of several lists, the StWA decides by drawing lots for the allocation of the last seat. In case of a tie within a list, the order of the lists in the list of candidates is decisive. All non-elected candidates are entered in descending order of their number of votes in a list of substitutes within the list.

Procedure in Case of too few Candidates
If there are too few candidates for the student parliament, i.e., not more than twice as many as the student parliament has seats, the election for the student parliament takes place as a simple election of persons with three votes. Here, the persons entitled to vote have the possibility to mark one or more candidates with a cross, but a maximum of three candidates. In this case, accumulation of votes is permitted. All candidates not elected according to this procedure will be included in a list of substitutes in descending order of the number of votes. In the event of a tie, the order will be decided by drawing lots. 

V. Nominations and Election Proposals Lists

Submission of Election Proposals
Submissions can be sent to StWA post office box on the Griebnitzsee campus, House 1, August-Bebel-Straße 89 in 14482 Potsdam, either by post or by the university's internal mail.
All documents required for the nominations must be received by the StWA by 18th June 2026, 12:00. Late submissions will not be accepted even in case of force majeure.

Use of Forms
Candidates are recommended to use the StWA forms that can be filled out on the computer to ensure the readability of manuscripts and all contents required by § 14 RWO. In the case of informal candidacies, this must be ensured independently. The forms are deposited under https://www.uni-potsdam.de/de/stwa/kandidatur.

Handwritten Signature
It is required that each election proposal is signed by the candidate himself/herself. Manual copies or powers of attorney in any form will not be recognized and will result in a demand for rectification of the defect in accordance with § 15 of the RWO, and after the expiration of the grace period the election proposal will be invalid. With his or her handwritten signature, each candidate irrevocably declares that he or she agrees with the nomination and is prepared to accept the intended mandate in the event of his or her election.
We would like to point out separately that in the case of an election, no resignation is possible until the student parliament has been constituted.

List Size & List Speaker
Each election proposals list must contain at least two candidates. Each candidate may stand for election on only one election proposals list. If a candidate stands for election on more than one list, the candidate’s candidacies on all lists are invalid. In addition to the election proposals, each list must contain the order in which the candidacies were placed. Each list is requested to nominate a list spokesperson who will act as contact person for the StWA. Corresponding forms can be found on the StWA website at https://www.uni-potsdam.de/de/stwa/kandidatur.
If the list does not contain any information about the placement, the order of the nominations is decisive at the time of submission. If the list does not contain a list spokesperson, the first list position is the list spokesperson.

Announcement of the Nominations
The nominations will be published by the StWA publicly for the university on its website and by e-mail in accordance with § 15 (3) RWO, as soon as the deadline for nominations has expired, but no later than 14 days before the first day of the election.

VI. Postal Vote

All persons entitled to vote may apply for postal voting. This is only possible online or on election days at the polling stations until closing time. In accordance with § 18 (1) RWO, the application can be submitted until 11 July 2026 via the StWA website (see https://www.uni-potsdam.de/en/stwa/postal-vote). The postal voting envelope containing the completed election documents must be received by the end of the election period, no later than 17 July 2026, 15:30, at the StWA mailbox on Campus Griebnitzsee, House 1, August-Bebel-Straße 89, 14482 Potsdam, or be submitted at one of the polling stations. Postal ballots received after the deadline will not be considered.

VII. Election Results

The election results will be announced in the form of a record of the election promptly after the votes have been counted via the student-list and on the StWA website. According to § 21 (1) RWO, an objection can be made to the StWA until the seventh day at 15:00 after the announcement of the election results.

Potsdam, 28th May 2026
The Student Election Committee

Election Advertising/Restricted Area

During the election days, there is a restricted area around the polling stations in accordance with § 16 (4) RWO. Election advertising is not permitted within this restricted area. The restricted area applies during the election days, starting on June 24 and ending on June 25. The exact location of the banned areas can be found in the following document.