So apparently college students are really apathetic

[Zanas]

Elections are held in February at Sciences Po. Turnout was 22% last year, 21% in 2011, 28% in 2010, 27% in 2009, 25% in 2008, 28% in 2007 and 25% in 2006. No idea what caused the sharp drop between 2010 and 2011...

I voted last year and the year before, but this time I don't care enough to cast an absentee ballot.

It was/is much lower in real French universities though. Typically it was around 10% turnout, give or take 2, when I was a student.

This brings back a memory : I once got elected at a replacement seat on the "studies and university life board" (Conseil des études et de la vie universitaire, CEVU, one of the several boards there are) for the Unef (the main left-wing half-wacko half-professionnal politician student union) whereas I had never been a member, just because the people of my political party had a spot to fill in law studies (typically right-wing) and nobody to fill it. They asked me, I said what the hell, got elected, never sat, but took a one year membership card, which I'm not too proud of but hey...

[Zanas]

Elections are held in February at Sciences Po. Turnout was 22% last year, 21% in 2011, 28% in 2010, 27% in 2009, 25% in 2008, 28% in 2007 and 25% in 2006. No idea what caused the sharp drop between 2010 and 2011...

I voted last year and the year before, but this time I don't care enough to cast an absentee ballot.

It was/is much lower in real French universities though. Typically it was around 10% turnout, give or take 2, when I was a student.

This brings back a memory : I once got elected at a replacement seat on the "studies and university life board" (Conseil des études et de la vie universitaire, CEVU, one of the several boards there are) for the Unef (the main left-wing half-wacko half-professionnal politician student union) whereas I had never been a member, just because the people of my political party had a spot to fill in law studies (typically right-wing) and nobody to fill it. They asked me, I said what the hell, got elected, never sat, but took a one year membership card, which I'm not too proud of but hey...

University elections have left and right wing political parties in France?

We don't have parties in university elections, we have student unions.

A large majority of unionized students are left-wing, though some are right-wing.

The main ones are :
- Unef : left-wing from Strauss-kahnian to Mélenchoniste, around 25,000 members (probably less really), they classically win half the total votes of these elections.
- FSE : left autonomists, "gauchistes", a few hundreds
- Sud étudiants : same as above
- Cé : social traitor, one or 2 thousands

Those win all elections in humanities universities.

Then you have two organizations, not unions, regroupment of student corporations, mainly originated in law and medical studies :
- PDE, a few thousands
- Fage, a few thousands
Those two are "apolitical", so they are roughly center-right. They win a lot of elections in medical and paramedical studies, and in a majority of law universities.

And then you have two organizations, not unions either, that are right-wing :
- Uni, two or 3 thousands, connected to the UMP
- Mét, 8,000 (they wish...), recently founded to be independent from UMP, but in fact really tied to it as well

Those two win elections in some hard-core right-wing law faculties, and some votes in other bodies. Uni was a neo-fascist school of life in the 1970s, it's way quieter now.