3. Who organises the school elections?

Cooperation between civil society and the central government is a unique feature of Nordic school elections, although the forms and intensity of the cooperation vary from country to country. In some countries, government agencies have the main responsibility for organising school elections, while in others, the organisation sector bears the main responsibility. Resources also differ considerably: the responsibility for organising and the financing model have a direct impact on the opportunities of different countries to develop their school elections and measure their impacts.

3.1. Models by different operators

3.1.1. The central government has the main responsibility

In the central government-led model, the central government operators have the main responsibility for organising school elections. The clearest Nordic example of this is Norway, where UDIR (Utdanningsdirektoratet, or the Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training), an agency under the Ministry of Education and Research, has been responsible for coordinating school elections since 1989. The national research operator Sikt plays a key role in the implementation and publishing the results. The schools are responsible for the practical arrangements, such as the voting process and organising election debates. The state funds the organisation of school elections.

In Sweden, MUCF (Myndigheten för ungdoms- och civilsamhällesfrågor, or the Swedish Agency for Youth and Civil Society), a government agency under the Ministry of Education and Research, has been responsible for coordinating school elections since 2002. The task of organising school elections comes from the central government. School elections have previously been organised together with youth organisations, but they have only played a communicative role since 2022. The European Parliament and the European Commission have also been involved in the organisation of the EU elections. The state funds the organisation of school elections, but the assignment is given on an election-specific basis.

3.1.2. Organisations have the main responsibility

In the organisation-led model, organisations have the main responsibility for school elections, and the central government is not involved in the organisation. In the Nordic countries, this model is only implemented in Finland, where the Finnish National Youth Council and Youth Sector has been responsible for organising school elections since the 1990s. Various youth organisations and political parties are involved in the organisation in communications. The funding depends on the project funding available annually.

3.1.3. Shared responsibility between organisations and the central government

In the central government and organisation sector model, school elections are organised in cooperation with different operators. In Denmark, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) has the main responsibility for the organisation, but the Danish Youth Council DUF (Dansk Ungdoms Fællesråd) is responsible for coordinating the elections. The prime minister always declares the start of the three-week election period. Political youth organisations are also actively involved in the organisation. Employees of the municipalities and schools carry out the elections in practice at schools.

In Iceland, school elections are organised by the National Youth Council of Iceland LUF (Landssamband ungmennafélaga), with the Icelandic Upper Secondary Student Union SÍF (Samband Íslenskra Framhaldsskólanema) as its main partner. Many operators are involved in the practical organisation of school elections, such as the member organisations of LUF and SÍF, political parties and their youth movements and cities. The Ministry of Education and Children is responsible for the funding.

3.2. Resources

Country	Budget	Organisers’ human resources	Financing model
Finland	Overhead costs EUR 15,000–20,000 and personnel costs approx. EUR 40,000	0.2–2 people, depending on funding (Finnish National Youth Council and Youth Sector).	Annual project funding, no ongoing government funding.
Sweden	5–7 million SEK (approx. EUR 435,000–610,000) per school election.	approx. 5 people full-time (MUCF).	Central government assignment on an election-specific basis, no ongoing funding.
Denmark	No exact amount.	2–3 people in the Parliament 0.5–1 person in DUF.	Primarily funded by the Danish Parliament.
Iceland	No information available.	3 people (LUF).	The Ministry of Education and Children as the main funder.
Norway	No information available.	No information available.	UDIR is responsible for the funding.

Source: Interviews carried out in connection with the project

In addition to the organisers’ human resources, a coordination team consisting of a few adults and young people, depending on the participants’ resources, is involved in the implementation of school elections at each election location.