Online elections at the University of Hamburg: easy, safe, and sustainable

Elections to the Academic Senate, the faculty councils, and the department councils at the University of Hamburg take place online starting in January 2026. This is not only practical for eligible voters, but also an important way to shape the University’s administrative processes digitally and sustainably. See this page for tips on how to vote safely and in just a few steps.

The election in 3 steps

Step 1: Email announcement

You will receive an announcement via email (at your University or work address) within the first few weeks of the lecture period. This mail will contain all the important election information, particularly how to run. You will also learn how to request your mail ballot if you are unable or unwilling to vote online.

Step 2: Mail invitations to vote using POLYAS

You will receive 2 mails from our provider POLYAS. Shortly before the election period, you will receive the first mail with a link to a digital voting booth and a password to access it. When the election period begins, you will receive a second mail with a link and a personal registration ID. The sender of both mails is: voting@polyas.com.

Click on the link (in either invitation) to the digital voting booth and enter the login details (ID from second mail and password from first mail) in the registration field. Now you are in the voting booth and you can proceed to voting.

Step 3: Vote

You can now see the list of nominations (similar to mail-in voting). Enter a check to vote. Now you can review your vote and make it binding. Done!

Login-Seite des Online-Wahlsystems POLYAS mit Eingabefeldern für Wähler-ID und Passwort sowie einem Button zum Anmelden.

Video instructions for voting:

FAQ about the online elections

Clarify the security and data protection concept.

Both your data and the election procedure itself are protected at the highest standard. As always, your vote is anonymous. Nobody can view your vote. See POLYAS for more information.

I haven’t received any notification. What can I do?

As a rule, we notify you per email (at either your University or your work address) in the first weeks of the lecture period. If you did not receive this mail, contact the Electoral Office(wahlamt.uhh"AT"uni-hamburg.de) directly.

I haven’t received any invitation to vote. What can I do?

Shortly before the election period begin, you should receive an invitation to vote digitally from POLYAS. If you have not received this invitation, take the following steps as described by POLYAS.

If you still cannot solve the problem, contact the Electoral Office(wahlamt.uhh"AT"uni-hamburg.de).

I cannot log in to vote. Where can I find help?

If you cannot log in, look at the tips from POLYAS. If you still cannot solve the problem, contact the Electoral Office(wahlamt.uhh"AT"uni-hamburg.de).

How much time do I have to vote?

You can vote anytime throughout the election period. Please note that if voting online, you will automatically be logged out after 15 minutes for security reasons. If you have not voted within that time, you will need to log in again to complete the procedure.

Can I interrupt voting at any point?

You can stop at any point and log in anew later to continue voting. If your vote has already been entered into the digital ballot box, however, it can no longer be changed or recast.

I would like to vote using a mail-in ballot. What do I do?

If you cannot or do not wish to vote online, you can request a mail-in ballot from the Electoral Office. The electoral management must receive the request in writing at the latest 3 weeks before the first day of the election period. Election documents are then sent to your address or handed over personally by the Electoral Office.

What can I do if I do not have a device able to access the internet?

As an alternative to a personal end device, you can vote using a laptop at the following locations:

Von-Melle-Park 5, 20146 Hamburg

To vote, have the log-in data that POLYAS sent to your University email address and the 2F authentication that you set up at the ready.

If you do not have the log-in data at hand at any of these locations, make sure you know which constituency you belong to and proceed as follows:

Students

To access your University email inbox via the browser, use the web-based email program Surfmail. You will need your uni username, your password, and the 2F authentication.

University of Hamburg employees (excluding UKE)

To access your University email inbox via the browser, use the Outlook web app. You will need your uni username, your password, and the 2F authentication.

UKE employees

To access your work email inbox via the browser, use the webmail system. You will need your the user data you set up for your email account (GWIS, KIS2, or KIS1).

POLYAS

We cooperate with POLYAS (in German only), located in Germany, to conduct our online elections. The online-election software has been certified by the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) and POLYAS data protection management pursuant to ISO/IEC 27001 (in German only).