They watch us, from afar, and it’s not a pretty sight. They know that the vote of 25 September “will be a watershed, a fundamental date” (64 percent); and they are almost all aware of the fact that the vote “is a civic duty that must always be exercised” (88 percent); many have also rediscovered the sense of the distinction between right and left (53 per cent, growing rapidly); but they fear that “with this ruling class things will never change” (87 per cent); and slowly, but surely, they are moving away from politics: five years ago, before the previous elections, it was considered “fundamental” by 59 percent of those interviewed, today by 41. A collapse. This is why many, perhaps, will not vote.
And the photograph of voters between 18 and 24 years old taken on 29 August by the research institute SWG per Italian Tech, the content hub of the GEDI group. A research aimed at understanding how young people are positioned, what values they have and how they intend to translate them into votes, on 25 September.
In general, what emerges is a desire for attention that obviously, even if there were, is not perceived: for example, 87 percent ask that parties “open their doors to young people because the whole country would benefit from it”, a figure that contrasts with the choices that the parties made when composing the lists of candidates.
The initiative
“Next Gen: new voices to vote”. How to participate in the Italian Tech podcast
by Riccardo Luna
However, the theme is not of armchairs, but of values: 36 percent would like the proposals of young people to be “taken into consideration”. Which? Over all they win the environment and climate change (34 per cent) and the quality of schools and universities (31), in the face of unemployment and health care and much in the face of immigration and taxes.
They are disillusioned but not indifferent: they define themselves in the majority environmentalists (29 percent), progressives (27) pro-Europeans (27) e anti-fascists (25) – while the sovereignists are only 3 per cent and the fascists the 2. A fact that is confirmed in the so-called “affinity” to the parties with results that seem in theory to be able to completely overturn the electoral forecasts: the party that to which most part of the very young feel “very” or “quite close” is the Democratic Party (41 per cent), just before the Green and Left Alliance (39) which is even the first party if we consider only those who consider themselves “very close” to a party; Action and Italy alive exceed M5s; Brothers of Italy, Forza Italia and finally the League close.
Ma affinities are not automatically votes, on the contrary. Meanwhile, there is a leadership problem: and the first, by a large margin, is Prime Minister Mario Draghi. In second place Giuseppe Conte, who was also the president of the Board of the DAD, the distance learning that the students have suffered so much. Conte comes in front of other party leaders in all categories (competence, credibility, reliability, sympathy and closeness). But if they were to vote today, the very young would premiere in order the PD (19 percent), M5s and FdI (17), Lega (10) Action and Iv (8).
The initiative
“Next Gen: new voices to vote”. How to participate in the Italian Tech podcast
by Riccardo Luna
How many will go to vote and how many will abstain? The given of juvenile abstentionthey tell SWG, it is in line with that of the other age groups: 34-38 percent. But the potential abstainers who are placed in the center-left camp are twice as many as those who are placed in the center-right. As if they didn’t feel represented. Which explains the so-called “emotional scanner”: 79 percent of center-left youth approach voting with a mixture of negative emotions; for 56 per cent of those on the center right, “trust, tranquility and joy” prevail.
But if young people turn away from politics, if they continue not to feel considered, it will be a defeat for everyone.