Students at the University Junior College in Msida seem to have taken to student politics with gusto in keenly-fought elections for the students’ council.

Elections at the Junior College regularly attract a turnout of over 80 per cent and, in the election just held on November 30, a record 82 per cent voted.

Close results are also the order of the day, with the winning organisation rarely getting more than 52 per cent of the vote.

This year, the result could barely be tighter. SDM, the Christian Democrat organisation, wrested control of the Junior College students’ council from Pulse, the organisation that describes itself as social democrat, with an average vote of 980 to 976, which makes it a 50.1 per cent majority for SDM, which now have four of the seven seats on the council.

And this also election achieved a perfectly proportional result with a first-past-the-post electoral system. Both student organisations have now vowed to work together in implementing the SDM manifesto.

Even though the vote for the KSJC is not representative of all 16- and 17-year-olds (as private and Church sixth form students do not take part), Junior College students have shown a keen interest in student politics and political parties might be well-advised to start thinking about lowering the voting age to 16.

Some will argue that the elections at KSJC and the University really mirror national partisan politics. Perhaps, but who said democratic politics is not messy? Participation is the key and the KSJC elections show that young people, even those younger than 18, are keen to make their voices heard in decisions affecting them.