Young people must vote, for their sake and ours
Furthermore, the rest of us will lose out on the skills and energy that the youth could bring to the country’s governance if they don’t
As Britain flounders in its attempts to finalise its withdrawal from the EU, it is worth reflecting that one of the many contradictions of Brexit is that those who voted in favour of it will be the ones least affected by the decision. In the 2016 Brexit referendum, polls indicated that between 71% and 75% of voters under the age of 24 voted to remain, yet only 64% of voters in this age group participated in the poll — compared to 90% of voters over the age of 65. Those in this age group also had a very different perspective on the question being put to them. YouGov’s figures show that 64% of voters over the age of 65 asked to leave. Perhaps if more youth had turned out to vote, the result of the narrowly won referendum would have been different. This is an apposite example of how young people cannot ignore the processes of governance. They cannot leave decision-making to older generations when it is their future that is at stake. In Africa, youth participation in elections and in go...
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