“Let’s stop with the so-called disinterest of young people in politics”! Our generation does not engage less but differently than the previous ones.” Grégoire Cazcarra, 22 years old and himself a first-time voter, is the author of the book At the polls! How to convince your loved ones to vote, published on February 23. A plea against abstention with a very specific goal: “to encourage young people to get involved and go to the polls”. A goal that will probably be difficult at achieving abstentionism among 18-24 year olds was so important during the last elections. They were thus 73% not to have slipped a ballot into the ballot box in the European elections in 2019 then 87% in the regional elections in 2021. Even if the presidential election testifies to a more mobilized youth, this age group is still the one who votes. the least. As a reminder, a third of them had shunned the voting booths in the first round of the election in 2017. Five years later, the forecasts remain pessimistic: only 2 out of 3 young people say they are “certain to go and vote”, according to an Elabe survey, for L’Express and BFM TV, in partnership with SFR. Added to this, a study published in early February by the Institut Montaigne, in which sociologists highlighted “the impressive political disaffiliation” within the young generation. But with less than a month before the first round of the presidential election, there are also many who attach particular importance to this election. We went to meet first-time voters for whom going to the polls in a few weeks “is not discussed”.
“Fabien Roussel will surely have my voice”
“I did not consider for a single second to abstain”. François is 21 years old and lives in Lyon for his business studies. The elections, he has been waiting for months, excited at the idea of ”participating in the democratic process”. On polling weekends, he will make a special trip to his hometown, a hundred kilometers inland. “It’s the first time I’ve voted for the most important election in France and I can’t wait to finally be able to take part in it. The idea of putting my ballot in the ballot box and having an impact on the politics of the country, I wouldn’t miss it for the world”. The student never missed the opportunity “to express his ideas” through the polling stations, when he had the opportunity. He lists… “European in 2019, municipal in 2020, regional in 2021, I haven’t missed any and I won’t miss any!”.
An attachment to his right to vote that he thinks he has established with those close to him for whom “politics counts”. Coming from a modest background and a sibling of three children, François benefits from the allowances provided by the State and he is “very grateful”. He knows “the importance of helping families in financial difficulty” and that is why, without hesitation, he decides: “my vote will be for the left”. “Fabien Roussel will surely have my vote, because he is one of the only ones (on the left) who wants to keep nuclear power plants. An important decision to lower the price of electricity, in particular. But hey, I’m not fooled , I know that Macron will be re-elected and that is partly their fault…”. In the mouth of François, the “others” are the abstentionists, these “black beasts of the presidential election, which only serve to distort the results”. However, it is his generation that shuns, for the most part, the ballot box, but he “does not recognize himself there”. “We are the first concerned by the elections, it is a way of building the France of tomorrow, the one in which we will grow. Our parents and grandparents have already had their day, we still have to imagine and shape our future and that goes through the vote”.
“In memory of those who did not have this privilege”
On this point, Lucie, a young 22-year-old from Montpellier, joins François. “Most of them are simply too lazy to get out of bed on a Sunday morning. They don’t realize the importance of the history of the vote in France. As a woman, I know that many of them fought for this right in 1944. Now that we got it, I want to use it, in remembrance of those who did not have this privilege.” Now living in London to study, France’s influence abroad seems to her to be “essential for the country to be able to influence international decisions”. A conviction which leads her to choose Emmanuel Macron, who, according to her, has “the shoulders to take on this role”.
The outgoing president seems to have the favor of young voters. An Ifop poll revealed at the end of January that he came first in voting intentions among 18-24 year olds, with 25% of the votes cast. “In addition, my father is on the right and my mother on the left. Regularly disagreeing, I happened to find myself in the middle of their debates and I think that unconsciously I inherited both points of view. And if we mix all that, we get the center”. In times of health crisis and in view of the situation in Ukraine, Lucie believes “that it is more important than ever to participate in the next elections”. “Even if I am in England, I try to be interested in the political news of my native country and its positions internationally, especially when the presidential election arrives. It seems obvious to me”.
“I still hesitate between Pécresse and Macron”
In Canada this time, it is Julie, 21, who will go to the polls for the first time and from abroad. For her, “the vote has no borders”. “I’ve been living here for four years, and yet my love and interest in France has remained intact. Voting, even though I’m thousands of miles from home, is a way to keep in touch with my native land, my homeland”. Daughter of a nurse and a real estate agent, Julie identifies with the middle class. A family that was able to “give me a very comfortable childhood that I care about”.
It is moreover the positions of the candidates on the taxation of inheritance that could guide his vote. “I recently had to inherit and saw how outrageously high the inheritance tax rate was. Especially when it comes to the hard-earned money our elders have on which they have already been taken all their life. That’s why I’m still hesitating between Pécresse and Macron”. On this subject, the candidate of the Republicans proposed to exempt estates from taxes up to 200,000 euros per child. Emmanuel Macron would like to increase this exemption to a maximum amount of 100,000 to 150,000 euros in direct line (children) and 100,000 euros in indirect line (brother and sister, grandchildren, etc.). He added that he did not want a “tax increase” but “support for modest assets” when presenting his program on March 17.
“Change comes through the ballot box and nowhere else”
Florian is a law student in Toulouse. At only 18 years old, he sports an already well-built political conscience. “I have always been a very diplomatic person, with the desire to improve everyone’s life, on my scale. It all started in secondary school when I joined the council of high school life (CVL). In its breast, already, I was fighting to improve the working conditions of my comrades by facing elected officials or regional councilors”. Very young he had the desire to “militate for those who need it”, himself having grown up in a modest environment, in the town of Tarbes (Hautes-Pyrénées). Human values that he drew from his carer mother and fire safety officer father.
“Today, the most humanist political camp is that of the left. I think in particular that Jean-Luc Mélenchon embodies these values well. And then, he speaks to our generation, with an income of more than 1000 euros for certain young people who leave the family home, for example”. The candidate of La France insoumise had collected 30% of the votes among 18-24 year olds in the first round of the presidential election in 2017. Putting aside his political influences, Florian says he is “simply impatient” at the idea of participating in his first vote. A feeling that the student would like to be able to convey to “those who still doubt the interest of voting”. “It’s good to express yourself on social networks or to demonstrate, but change comes through the ballot box and nowhere else”.