Participation of all citizens in formal political processes is fundamental for democracy. If a segment of the population is deprived of the right to vote or is disengaged, the representativeness and legitimacy of these processes is undermined. Although young people participate in political processes in multiple ways, their representation in formal political processes is limited. There is a growing recognition, however, that young people’s involvement is critical to making elections more representative. EMBs and other electoral stakeholders have a crucial role to play in empowering youth to participate in formal political processes. Indeed, the emerging consensus has seen many electoral assistance agencies adopt a youth focus in their programming.
As a first step in fostering increased youth inclusion, participation, and representation in electoral processes, EMBs could employ young people across all levels of their organization, including in their strategic planning. This would improve EMBs’ knowledge about the needs of young voters; move EMBs towards diversity in regard to age; leverage young people’s flexibility, creativity and willingness to learn; and allow young people to have ownership of the political process.
Another way of fostering youth inclusion, participation, and representation in electoral processes is for EMBs to support youth-focused and youth-led organizations, and to partner with CSOs and other electoral stakeholders that empower youth. Such alliances are particularly important for EMBs to establish in their efforts to work with youth as partners and leaders in ensuring peaceful elections.
A youth empowerment perspective on all the electoral processes they manage throughout the electoral cycle involves EMBs:
Constitutional and legal frameworks remain some of the strongest tools to develop and mandate youth-friendly electoral policies and practices. Well-crafted legislation can support targeted structural interventions that foster inclusivity for young people and other groups. Legal and voluntary quotas for youth participation are one option for certain contexts reforms that respond to the diverse circumstances of young people; and the eligibility ages at which youth can vote and run for political office all influence youth engagement in the electoral cycle. Legislative frameworks to scrutinize and manage political finances can support a level playing field for young people, particularly youth from marginalized groups and young women, who might otherwise be disadvantaged in settings that favor wealthy, mature, male candidates and political elites.
It is vital that EMBs, political parties and governments have a clear understanding of international electoral standards and legal frameworks in order to develop youth-sensitive policies that address barriers and enable youth to participate in the political life.
EMBs have a role to play in helping political parties be more inclusive of young people. Democracies are based on inclusion and broad representation, yet youth, women and other groups are often excluded from representative institutions due to the inherent biases and practices that exist in traditional political parties. As a key electoral gateway, political parties influence the extent to which young people are active in representational politics, but their failure to successfully engage young people can lead to distrust, disengagement and marginalization.
To mitigate this deficit, political parties—sometimes in collaboration or with the support of EMBs—can adopt measures to improve youth participation. These include codes of conduct that prescribe peaceful youth engagement; mentoring and leadership programs to counter exclusionary practices and foster youth networks; subsidies to facilitate access by youth to political finance; and candidate and party quotas to build robust youth representation. Strong party youth wings can also provide a voice and connections for young people entering the political and electoral cycle.
Beneficially, active youth players are a positive channel through which parties can reach out to a youth cohort. Globally, EMBs have established cross-party networks to provide skills and training for young people, equipping them to perform effectively and sustainably in the political cycle. EMBs also play a role in ensuring peaceful participation by young people, including developing measures to combat youth involvement in election-related violence which is prevalent in conflict and post-conflict contexts. Meaningful youth participation in political parties is essential for healthy and inclusive representation models in the future. EMBs can collaborate with political parties and other actors to facilitate cross-party dialogue and initiatives.
As mandated providers of civic and voter education, EMBs play a vital role in encouraging young people to be interested and involved in the electoral process. Youth are not a homogenous group, and—in their diversity—will be receptive to different approaches to learning about democracy and electoral processes. Collaboration with other electoral stakeholders, including the media and—importantly, young people themselves—will produce the most effective methods for reaching targeted subgroups. In their approach to informing and educating young voters and prospective voters, EMBs will be alert to the intersectional nature of marginalization and disadvantage. They will also be keen to learn from their intended audience – as young people themselves are creators and implementers as well as beneficiaries of civic and voter education.
Likewise, young people are creators as well as consumers of media. The media and EMBs together contribute to the achievement of SDG 16, target 10, “to ensure public access to information and protect fundamental freedoms, in accordance with national legislation and international agreements.” To achieve this target, the media, as well as informing and educating, play a “watchdog” role in relation to how electoral processes are reported. Ethical codes of behavior are in place to discourage inflammatory statements, and to hold up standards of accurate and balanced coverage of electoral processes.
Alongside traditional media, social media has grown as a primary source of information, especially for youth. Platforms such as Facebook and YouTube are ubiquitous. There is still a digital divide, however, and providers of civic and voter education should collect data on internet use and accessibility, considering possible regional and gender divides, even in countries with otherwise high internet penetration rates.
Education has the transformative potential to build peace, and EMBs and other stakeholders, recognizing the educative role youth can play in this process, particularly in conflict and fragile contexts, can collaborate with youth organizations to provide civic and voter education for responsive, inclusive, participatory, and representative decision-making at all levels.
