Breathe
By Mafer Olvera
Mexico is home to 37.8 million people between the ages of 12 and 29. Of this universe, 26.2 million are registered in the electoral roll and will be able to vote in the upcoming June 2 elections. This represents 30% of the nominal list of the entire country, according to INE. This year, those between 18 and 19 years old who will vote for the first time will be 3.9 million. Historically, the participation of first-time voters or first-time voters is very high, such was the case of the 2018 elections, in which they participated between 62% and 70%.
This year an equal or higher turnout is expected. Candidates, political parties and their campaign teams know that the illusion of using the credential for the first time could tip the balance in their favor or against them.
What will determine their voting intention for the next largest election in the country - 20,708 local and federal offices - and in which they could have a female president for the first time? We don't quite know. The CDMX Youth Trends Survey, conducted by the National Youth Institute (INJUVE) in 2018 asked 8,997 teenagers between the ages of 12 and 17: "If you could vote for the first time what would you base your decision on?".
And so they replied:
1) What I believe: 61%.
2) What I researched: 28%
3) Whatever my parents say: 7%.
4) What my friends say: 4%.
Among these factors, it is interesting to see that there are no elements of participation with a vision of long-term development, or of rebuilding a country based on real opportunities in terms of employment, security, education, culture, mental health or the eradication of all types of violence or discrimination against young people. This is convenient for those who decide their future. In the face of a youth that cries out for candidates that meet their needs, we find sterile, witty and loaded with adultcentrism proposals that want to sound cool.
Regardless, these young first-timers will surely come out to vote.
What happens later, after the fervor of the first election is alarming and sad.
When you are already 24 years old or older and thereafter up to 30, participation drops drastically in local, federal and intermediate elections. For example, in the 2018 elections, about 33% of young adults between the ages of 19 and 34 voted, that is, not even half. Why is their participation diluted? Tomorrow in this space, I will share with you the second and last part of my analysis.
*Mafer Olvera is a specialist in youth public policy. She was director of the Youth Institute of the CDMX, 2012-2018. Creator of the Hospital de las Emociones Model. UN Awards, 2017 and CHIUKU MTV Latin America, 2016. Speaker at the UN High Level Forum, NY, 2016 and 2017. Advocate for the right to wellness and mental health.
The opinions expressed are the responsibility of the authors and are absolutely independent of the position and editorial line of the company. Opinion 51.
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