On June 6, the junior election for the European Parliament took place at the Steinmühle under bright sunshine. Subject teacher Eva Katharina Rink reports:

It’s no wonder that, with such beautiful election weather, voter turnout was a gratifying 83 percent. But we also have our hardworking election volunteers to thank for this, as well as those who were willing to help out with the junior elections:

Baris Cem Tutu, Jonathan Eckardt, Jan Templer, and Anton Neßler enjoyed their work as election volunteers so much that the junior elections were even completed earlier than originally scheduled. The four young men from Dr. Claudia Röder’s Political Science elective class stood out for their dedication, organizational skills, knowledge, and sense of humor.

Fun While Voting

So the two accompanying teachers, Jessica Schumann and Eva Katharina Rink, didn’t get bored either. On the contrary—the atmosphere at the junior election at Steinmühle was warm, cheerful, and lively. That’s what makes voting fun!

However, the following students should also be mentioned:

Ben Luis Peters, Jannis David Bastian, Fabian Gutmann, and Andreas Fabian Wöhr also wanted to serve as junior election workers, and some of them—including Ben Luis Peters—had already demonstrated their commitment to democracy and their diverse skills during the previous junior elections in the fall of 2023, held in conjunction with the Hessian state legislative elections. Constantin Mensing also served as an election worker during the junior election for the state legislative election and left a very positive impression.

A thank you for your hard work

Eva Katharina Rink, the English and social studies teacher who was primarily responsible for organizing and conducting the junior elections, would like to take this opportunity to extend a heartfelt thank you to the people mentioned above. Without you, these junior elections would not have been possible—you’re the best! 😊

The results of the junior elections at Steinmühle were also outstanding, especially when compared to the overall results of all participating schools in Germany. At Steinmühle, in fact, a clear victory for the democratic parties is emerging. Although the AfD also gained ground here (4.9 percent), it lags significantly behind the other parties. A nationwide trend is also evident at Steinmühle: The Greens are the losers of this election and have lost many votes compared to previous junior elections at Steinmühle (18.2 percent), but they are still the third-strongest party and thus well ahead of the FDP (10.5 percent).

The results for the CDU, which emerged as the leading party at Steinmühle, are also noteworthy (23.8 percent) and the SPD, which, with 19.2 percent, is clearly the second-strongest party and can certainly be described as the winner of the election, as it has made significant gains at Steinmühle compared to previous junior elections.

To Promote Democracy

The result for the Volt party is also noteworthy, as it is tied with the AfD (4.9 percent).

With 3.8 percent of the vote, Die Linke is considered the loser at Steinmühle, and Sahra Wagenknecht’s party (BSW) also managed to secure only 3.1 percent of the vote. It thus trails Die Linke by a narrow margin.

Other parties received a total of 11.5 percent. The exact results can be found in the chart on the right. This result is typically high for our school. This year’s junior elections were, of course, particularly exciting, as 16- and 17-year-olds were also allowed to vote for the first time in the “real” European elections.

The Junior Election (www.juniorwahl.de) is viewed as a project to promote democracy, and given the enthusiasm shown by the Steinmühlen students on Election Day, one can definitely agree with this assessment.

The organizers of the junior elections at Steinmühle hope that the rest of the student body and faculty share this view, and that the enthusiasm and commitment to our wonderful and exciting democracy at our school will continue to grow in the years to come.