Why Vote – COYV Report
The general decline of voter turnout in recent decades worries policy-makers and intrigues researchers. Some speak of it as a ‘crisis of democracy’, others of a ‘democratic deficit’. The decline is sharper amongst young people. The EU is not immune to this trend – in 2019, for the first time since 1994, voter turnout for European Parliament (EP) elections climbed back up reaching 50% of the total eligible voters in the EU (European Parliament, 2022). Hailed as a success, a small majority of eligible citizens voting poses a problem of legitimacy of both national and supranational political systems. But why is it that young people vote, on average, less than other cohorts?
