Meaningful Youth Participation in the Electoral Process
Political Education, Special Activation, and Issues Outreach are fundamental strategies to create MYP in the electoral process.
Historically, youth have had an essential role in Indonesia. Youth involvement in every historical process (1908 National Movement, 1928 Youth Pledge, 1945 Rengasdengklok) brought Indonesia to the gates of independence. Moreover, the youth movement has its meaning for all aspects of the nation’s development, from political, economic, cultural, and sociological aspects. Encouraging meaningful youth participations in every aspect of the nation is the main capital for realizing the nation’s progress.
One of the participation of youth that needs to be highlighted is involvement in the electoral process. Research conducted by the UNDP and EU Commission states that youth participation in the electoral process is still low. The average absenteeism rate in preliminary elections in Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Europe reaches 45%. In fact, the voices of youth are vital in determining a country’s future fate, especially for countries dominated by young voters.
In an exclusive interview, Dr. Thina Nzo, Senior Researcher for the Public Affairs Research Institute, said that the category of countries dominated by young voters is usually developing countries, so the participation of youth in aspiration for their needs through the electoral process will help the country to create strategic policies. Furthermore, the Pew Research Center in 2022 also stated that countries with high youth voter participation resulted in political stability, like in the Netherlands, Germany, and Italy.
The dominance of young voters in the electoral process can have a dualistic impact on the country. On the one hand, the dominance of young voters can accelerate the country’s development, but on the other hand, youth underrepresentation will cause significant problems for the country. Therefore, in line with Prime Minister Modi’s statement:
“Young people must be encouraged and empowered to exercise their right to vote so that the innovative ideas and spirit of change of young people can be utilized.”
So, how do you achieve meaningful youth participation in the electoral process? Three strategies can be implemented to increase youth participation in the electoral process: political education, special activation, and issues outreach.
Political education is a fundamental need that must be met to encourage young voters to participate actively and critically in the electoral process. A premature curriculum and a feudal approach usually cause weak political education in the country. Without quality of the political education, young voter will not understand the importance of their position in election contestation.
Special activation means the process of creating political activities at the grassroots area with creative and innovative agenda. The highest demand from youth is to ensure that their presence is always considered important. Through special activation, this demand will be fulfilled by directly involving youth in the electoral sub-activities.
Issues outreach must be understood as a pick-up communication strategy to touch the social emotions of young voters. The biggest problem currently growing among youth is distrust of politics due to elitist exclusivity, so presenting youth issues through political platforms will be a reasonably effective way to present young voter in the electoral process.
Therefore, Indonesia as a country with a dominant young voter status (reaching 55% of KPU data), must seriously consider strategies to realize meaningful youth participation in the electoral process. One thing that must be underlined:
The presence of young people in the electoral process is not only as voters but also as a catalyst and accelerator for the nation’s progress.
