Record-breaking youth turnout for Poland’s presidential elections — but what message are they sending?
Over the last few weeks, we have heard repeatedly in the Polish news that the 2020 presidential elections were the most important elections since the end of communism in 1989. Even the pandemic hasn’t stopped the voters. 68.18% of the public turned out to vote: the highest voter turnout to date this century. Andrzej Duda, who was running for re-election, won with 51.03% of the votes.
Not only was overall voter participation high, but young voters especially rushed to the polls. The 18–29 age group also broke a participation record, as according to the Ipsos poll, 67.2% of them voted in the second round of presidential elections. For comparison, a year ago in parliamentary elections, the turnout in the 18–29 age group was 46%. If this age group alone had the ultimate say, Rafał Trzaskowski would have won the second round of elections with a large advantage.
Now, the strength of these young voters will have to be managed somehow as since the previous presidential election in 2015, almost two million Poles have reached the voting age.
I believe there were three main reasons that nudged Polish youth to vote in these elections: weariness over the never-ending conflict between the two main political parties, the realisation that older voters have been shaping the future for the younger generations and a renewed sense of connection to the impact politics can have.
Youth tired of the conflict between two main parties
Since 2005, we have seen a political battle between two main parties: Civic Platform (PO) and Law and Justice (PiS). What was different this time in the first round of the elections, was a result of an independent candidate with almost 14% support. However, the final round was still a battle between candidates of PO and PiS. With a country divided between East and West, urban and rural, we have also seen a striking generational divide. Almost two-thirds of the youngest age group voted for Trzaskowski, while Andrzej Duda could count on 36% support.
Political scientists point out that among young voters a large proportion went simply to choose the lesser evil. Although this “lesser evil” — for different voters — has two different names. One-third of them did not vote at all in the second round to avoid this choice.
Elderly shaping the future for the youth
I have not previously been a fan of lowering the voting age to 16, but these elections and the stark differences among generations in their votes have challenged me to reconsider.
Incumbent Duda campaigned largely on social benefits, including the 500+ programme, under which families receive 500 zloty (£100) per month for each child until the age of 18 and signing the “13th pension” bill, which would provide an additional pension payment of 981 zlotys after-tax to over 9.5 million pensioners in April 2020. He additionally promised the “14th pension” which would be paid from next year onward. While we cannot confirm whether that was one of the reasons why he received two-thirds of votes coming from voters over 60, it is one of the possibilities.
On the other hand, with only one-third of youth supporting the president, a mass emigration of youth from Poland is likely to continue, meaning a drop in the number of those contributing to the social benefits promised to the elderly.
“Politics do not concern me”
The answer to the question of politics adapting to modern life so far has been limited to the idea of public consultation via social media. From the traditional platforms, I personally do not remember any political representative, even from my local council, reaching out to citizens asking what they think needs to be done.
At the Centre for Public Impact, we know the importance of championing the voices of those who are heard the least. This helps to promote diversity of thought and create a more inclusive conversation. Which is why I would have hoped that with the unusual situation we have all found ourselves in, global pandemic, working from home and lockdown, more digital and innovative platforms would have occurred in Poland to connect us more not only to local governments, but also Senate and Sejm representatives.
Moreover, it seems like being a political representative has become more of a status than an actual duty, which might have led to the lack of trust in the government and therefore lack of engagement from the citizens.
One way to adapt to modern life is educating youth from the early ages. When I was searching for programs that would educate youth about politics, I came across the Youth Voting Programme, which not only assumes mobilizing for informed participation of elections, but the important goals are also to encourage young people to be interested in current socio-political issues and to give them tools to be responsible and well-informed young citizens. It has been organised by the Center for Citizenship Education Foundation, the largest Polish non-governmental organization operating in the education sector.
Another approach is to continue engaging in the difficult but important conversations with people our age. When I spoke to my friends about the results of the elections, they mentioned how there are still many people in our generation who think that “politics do not concern me”. What they fail to understand is that everyone is engaged by default and not voting is also a choice. Others mentioned that they changed their mind and got interested in politics after having spoken to other friends, who they respect. That only reemphasizes how our governments further need to change to be more open, diverse and empathetic, which is what we believe in at CPI, in order to engage more citizens in the decision-making process.
How to maintain such energy and keep the youth engaged in politics?
This article is just the tip of the iceberg while discussing our generation’s engagement in politics. The hope is that we are finally waking up and becoming more aware of the consequences that each political election will have on our lives. We are understanding that we need to motivate each other to be engaged so that we are shaping our future and it’s not being shaped by the elderly generations. We are looking for ways to look beyond conflicts between main parties and therefore making a conscious choice to participate in politics and actively choose to vote.
The main question still remains open as to how do we ensure our generation retains that energy and enthusiasm beyond presidential elections once every 5 years or parliamentary elections every 4 years? Moreover, while this article addressed only Poland, I believe that this question can be applied to many other countries.
