It is a major challenge for the entire political class. The abstention, which peaked in the regional elections - 66.73% in the first round, 65.31% in the second - was seen as an electric shock. That of young people is even more glaring: 85% on average of 18-34 year olds had not passed through the voting booth on June 20, according to an Ipsos / Sopra Steria poll for France Télévisions and Radio France. A week later, and despite the strong media coverage of the ballot, 79% of them still had not slipped ballots in the ballot box. A situation all the more worrying since at the time young people were taking advantage of deconfinement. For the Secretary of State in charge of Youth and Commitment Sarah El Haïry, "
there are young people, abstentions, and therefore things to bring".
Read also: Abstention: the lost territories of politics
Faced with this democratic issue, the member of the government organized a vast colloquium on Monday 12 and Tuesday 13 July. Surrounded by researchers and representatives of union, political and associative youth, the Secretary of State chained round tables and discussions with broken sticks. The opportunity to understand the springs of non-voting in this age group. "
It is really a subject of major concern, otherwise we would not do that in the middle of a presidential address,"
blows a ministerial adviser. Initiative supported by Auguste Ott, President of the Young Democrats (MoDem): “
it is willing to act. It is a first step before possible adjustments ”.
For this participant, the abstention is partly explained by a lack of understanding and a "
disinterest
“Of
“ territorial democracy ”
.
To read also: "Defiance", "disinterest", lack of information ... The reasons for a growing abstention
In office since July 2020, Sarah El Haïry affirms it: young people want to grasp more
"the institutional keys of the country".
Clearly, to improve interest in politics: "
How not to undergo an election without knowing what it is for?" No longer being in a choice of casting, but of projects ”.
In the same way, the questions of the competences of the entity (department, region…) for which the citizens vote and the “
quality of the public debate”
emerge from the debates. For her part, Sarah El Haïry deplores
"a hyper engaged youth, but not by the vote"
. Faced with a Secretary of State that she finds "
too concerned about the technical aspects
"Emma Salley, host of the Young Insoumis, affirms that her age group" is
no longer found in the political system.
"
Society is suspicious of institutions and a president who seem distant,
" she adds.
Put in place proposals by 2022
For the majority of participants, it is moreover less the technical modalities - postal, digital, blank vote - than access to good information or electoral indifference that explain the phenomenon.
The abstention would be nourished "
by a lack of sense of belonging
, according to Rémy Perrad, national delegate of UNI, the main right-wing university movement.
We must rebuild a common belonging.
And not to get involved only for a cause in favor of such and such a community ”
.
Read also: Anti-abstention measures studied by deputies
Another debate on the table, the vote at 16.
For Sarah El Haïry, not very ardent on the proposal, "
it would already be necessary that the first voters
(those who are 18 years old)
vote".
Despite the Adrexo controversy, the Secretary of State defends the sending of paper electoral prospectuses.
They “
allow a family debate”.
Between now and the presidential election, the Secretary of State promises to translate certain proposals.
Among them, the establishment of an institutional booklet accompanying the professions of faith or the first electoral map is under study.
For the moment, the Secretary of State is taking a long time to recreate a link between politics and young people.
Hence his call for mobilization for 2022:
“Not going to vote is letting others decide for you”.