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"Pass Egal Wahl" at the Academy

Who would you vote for if you were eligible to vote? In the "Pass Egal Wahl" organized by SOS Mitmensch, everyone can (symbolically) cast their vote - their passport does not matter! There are numerous public polling stations in all federal states, and many schools are also involved in the initiative. As part of this, the Academy of Fine Arts is holding the first university-internal Pass Egal Wahl in Austria.

The Academy of Fine Arts sees itself as an open, international and diverse place for the arts and sciences, from which important social impulses emanate. Important goals are to help shape public and political discourses and to participate in social transformations.

Many of the people who study and work at the Academy of Fine Arts do not have an Austrian passport, even if they have lived here for a long time or were even born here. The Institute for Education in the Arts trains future teachers. They are aware that electoral injustice is particularly great among young people: in Austria, almost 50,500 students of voting age are not entitled to vote.

This year, the Academy is therefore the first Austrian unversity to take part in the “Pass Egal Wahl”, which takes place in schools and training centers on the occasion of the National Council elections.

The Pass Egal Wahl is about empowering people whose main place of life is in Austria but who are structurally excluded from voting. Their political voice should be made visible.
It is equally important to make Austrian citizens aware of the existing electoral injustice. Therefore, all members of the Academy - regardless of whether they have an Austrian passport or not - are called upon to take part in the Academy's internal Pass Egal election:

Location: Aula
Time: Mon 23 and Tue 24 September 2024, 10 - 14 h

The subjects for advertising the first Pass Egal election at the Academy were designed by Jakob Grabher and Anna Lena Helmer as part of an internal student competition. The subjects will be used online and offline for the advertisement and the posters will be exhibited in the polling station and at a Wien Woche event.


Cooperation with Wien Woche 2024
On Friday, September 20, 2024, from 19 - 20 h, a discussion on the topic of "Non-citizens in motion" will take place as part of Wien Woche.
Activists and researchers from different fields exchange ideas about current struggles, strategies and achievements of migration. In this context, the posters of the two winners of the student competition will be exhibited at the Academy of Fine Arts. They address the issue of electoral injustice in Austria on the occasion of the Pass Egal election in 2024.
Location: Depot - Art and Discussion, Breite Gasse 3, 1070 Vienna