More than 800 have voted to show their opinion on the UK’s position in the European Union.
More than 800 students have voted to show their opinion on the UK’s position in the European Union.
A total of 881 students voted in the poll coordinated by De Montfort Students’ Union (DSU)’s Student Voice team at the same time as our biggest elections ever.
Of the total number, a huge majority of 606 students at De Montfort University (DMU) voted that the UK should stay in the EU.
After that, 123 voted that the UK should leave, while 127 stated that they had no stance. A total of 25 students abstained.
Samuel Hilton, Student Engagement Coordinator at DSU, helped administrate the student-led vote. He said: “It all started at the DP Education scrutiny panel where the students decided that they should ask the DMU population what they thought about the EU Referendum and a particularly brave student passed the motion at council which meant that it could then go to a campus-wide vote.
“It would have been a genuine national upset if the results had shown a majority of DMU students wanted to leave the EU because of demographics of the student body that we have here and of the demographics of a typical ‘stay’ voter.
“Nonetheless it is quite reflective of what the student body as a whole thinks.
“The last referendum I can find on our records had 74 votes and we were up to 881 by the time voting closed. We are incredibly pleased that students engaged with it.
“I think there is a really strong sense of feeling that meant students spent time in effect making this happen.
“While this issue might not be something people are discussing in the pub, it is something that will affect everyone’s day-to-day lives.”
DSU’s Polish Society has already said they hope to hold an open debate in the coming weeks to canvass student opinions ahead of the national vote on Thursday 23 June.
However, if you want to vote in the real EU Referendum on Thursday 23 June it’s important that you register to vote by Tuesday 7 June. Otherwise you won’t be able to have your say! Find out more here.