Shadow elections in Flensburg

Shadow elections will be held at Flensburg School on Thursday, 13th October.  The project is about engaging young people in democracy, and the youth wings of the political parties will have the opportunity to hold presentations during lunch breaks and take part in panel discussions in the run-up to the elections. The mock election in Hafnarfjörður was one of the projects to receive a grant from the Equality Fund of Iceland in June. The idea originated from the Hafnarfjörður Youth Council, which is working on its implementation with the school's NFF student association. 

Aiming to engage and spark an interest in democratic participation. 

The project aims to engage young people in exercising their democratic rights by holding so-called “shadow elections'. To introduce young people to the democratic process and elections, the youth wings of the political parties are invited to give short presentations during the students' lunch breaks. In addition, parties are allocated a space in the school foyer where students can ask questions and learn about the parties' policies on specific areas. The first presentation in the canteen will be held on Thursday, 6th October, and the last on 11th October. On 12th October, a panel discussion will be held where party representatives will have a few minutes to present their manifestos, and students will have the opportunity to ask the participants questions. The panel discussions will be moderated by Erla Ragnardóttir, Deputy Headteacher of Flensborg, and Arnar Dan Kristjánsson, actor and former Flensborg student. Students can send questions to #egkys during the panel discussion. 

The mock elections themselves will then be held on Thursday, 13th October from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, with a format similar to that of a standard election day. Polling stations will be set up where young people vote in secret. By establishing this habit and creating an atmosphere for participation in democracy from a young age, this behaviour develops into a certain norm that could lead to long-term democratic participation. The project also aims to promote a greater understanding of democracy and the importance of democratic participation. A model for shadow elections can be found in a system that the Norwegians have used since 1989 specifically to engage and spark the interest of secondary school students in participating in democracy.