Extract
On the eve of SA’s sixth democratic elections on May 8, thousands of young people took to Twitter to state reasons for why they had no intention of casting their votes. They used the hashtag #IWantToVoteBut.
The trending topic at the time of the elections provides some insight into why young people opted out of casting their vote. At the time, pollsters and commentators were already touting the power of the youth (people under 29 made up 21% of eligible voters) as well as the threat of non-participation.