Electronic Elections - Youth Turnout and Their Views

Electronic Elections - Youth Turnout and Their Views

Market Research Topic

"YOUTH TURNOUT IN ELECTIONS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS ELECTRONIC VOTING"

The IDE3 company in Zagreb conducted market research on the topic of "Youth turnout in elections and attitudes towards electronic voting." The research aimed to investigate how many young people participated in parliamentary elections, their reasons for voting or not voting, whether they believe that electronic voting and electronic elections would be beneficial in the future, and if they would change their opinion and vote if they could participate electronically.

Electronic Elections - Youth Turnout and Their Views

Market Research Topic

"YOUTH TURNOUT IN ELECTIONS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS ELECTRONIC VOTING"

The IDE3 company in Zagreb conducted market research on the topic of "Youth turnout in elections and attitudes towards electronic voting." The research aimed to investigate how many young people participated in parliamentary elections, their reasons for voting or not voting, whether they believe that electronic voting and electronic elections would be beneficial in the future, and if they would change their opinion and vote if they could participate electronically.

The IDE3 company in Zagreb conducted market research on the topic of "Youth turnout in elections and attitudes towards electronic voting and electronic elections."

The research aimed to investigate how many young people participated in parliamentary elections, their reasons for voting or not voting, whether they believe that electronic elections would be beneficial in the future, and if they would change their opinion and vote if they could participate electronically.

The research was conducted using a quantitative method through a survey of 1,450 individuals.

The research objectives were as follows:

Determine the percentage of youth turnout in elections.

Determine the reasons for voting.

Determine the reasons for not voting.

Determine if electronic voting would help them in the voting process.

Determine if they would change their opinion and vote in the future due to electronic voting.

The survey was conducted from July 10, 2020, to July 20, 2020, and covered a total of 1,450 respondents across Croatia.

SAMPLE

The research was conducted on a random sample of 1,450 individuals, primarily students, with the following age distribution:

46.0% - 23 to 26 years old 42.3% - 18 to 22 years old 9.0% - 27 to 30 years old 2.3% - older than 30 years old Of these, 73.4% were women, and 26.6% were men.

Most respondents came from Central Croatia, followed by Southern Croatia, Eastern Croatia, Northern Adriatic Croatia, and Mountainous Croatia. A small number of respondents came from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Ireland.

One of the research objectives was to investigate whether young people participate in elections and what reasons influence their decision to vote or not.

The results are as follows:

71.5% of respondents voted in the 2020 parliamentary elections, while only 28.5% did not vote.

This high percentage indicates that young people are indeed interested in politics and consider their vote important.

The most common reasons for voting were as follows:

It's my civic duty - 86.7% I'm interested in politics - 32.4% Due to persuasion by others - 3%

Other reasons included:

Every vote counts

To make a change

I want change

Hoping for improvement

Analyzing these responses, it can be concluded that respondents consider voting their civic duty and are eager to participate and make a difference.

The most common reasons for not voting among participants were:

Lack of motivation to go to the polls - 51.8% Inability to reach the polling station - 36.8% Not interested in politics - 18.7%

Other reasons included:

It's pointless

Insufficient information

Epidemiological situation

Lack of trust

When analyzing the statistics, it is evident that out of 1,450 participants, only 413 did not vote. Among them, 50% stated that they did not vote due to a lack of motivation, while 36.8% cited the inability to reach a polling station. This demonstrates that polling stations may not be adequately distributed and accessible, restricting people from voting.

How can this be changed? It is clear that young people are interested. A majority of them are interested in politics and consider their vote important in contributing to changes in the country.

In the research, respondents were divided into two categories:

Participants who voted in the parliamentary elections.

Participants who did not vote in the parliamentary elections.

Participants who voted were asked the following question: Do they believe that the voting process would be simpler if they had the option to vote electronically?

85.5% of participants believe that electronic voting would make the process simpler, while 14.5% believe that electronic voting would not help.

Participants who did not vote were asked: Would they change their opinion and vote if they had the option to vote electronically?

82.2% stated that they would change their opinion and vote if they could vote electronically, while 17.8% believe that they would not change their opinion.

CONCLUSION

The development of new technologies has changed the world we live in, our habits, behavior, and communication.

Young people grow up alongside technology, mastering new skills every day. It is well known that almost no one can do without a mobile phone and smart devices these days.

Media headlines often suggest that young people have a low turnout in elections due to a lack of interest in politics. Motivated by the fact that young individuals use technology extensively and understand its advantages, this research aimed to investigate the views of young respondents on electronic voting, depending on whether they voted in the last parliamentary elections or not.