The term "first time voter" can be defined in different ways. It is often taken to mean those young people who are reaching voting age and therefore are facing their first opportunity to vote, but it could also be defined to include those who have been disenfranchised (for example because of lack of citizenship or conviction) in previous elections and subsequently are enfranchised. An even broader definition would include older people who, having not voted previously despite being enfranchised, choose to vote. The below text mainly refers to people included in the first definition, i.e. people reaching the voting age.
There is some evidence that those who do not vote when first they have an opportunity to do so, fall out of the voting pool. Irrespective of whether this is always the case or whether people subsequently re-connect with political processes and voting at a later age, there is a concern that high levels of young people who are disconnected will destabilize the society or skew political life in ways which create a marginalized group of young people. This is a particular problem for developing countries which still have demographic patterns in which young people are by far the majority, but older democracies also worry about the youth vote.
There have been many different programmes to educate young people about their role as citizens, their rights and responsibilities, the importance of voting, and how best to make voter choices and hold those they vote for accountable between elections. These are often campaigns with a mix of popular media, above the line advertizing, cultural events in a youth idiom, social events, peer education and the use of celebrities and political exemplars.
Educators who are concerned about getting out the first time voter should therefore consider making use of various techniques from this topic area based on their best assessment of the needs and aspirations of the particular group being targeted, and make use of methods and materials which are particular appropriate to this target group.
In a recent national campaign aimed at such a group in South Africa, who also happened to be the first set of ‘first time voters’ reaching the age of 18 since political freedom, the chosen medium was a national newspaper chain, and materials written specially for that chain, designed with youth in mind, were circulated separately to chosen schools whose teachers had agreed to take part in suggested in school activities and competitions. The weekly supplement covered not only specific voter education but, more importantly, focused on ways in which young people could become politically active and take control of their lives outside of formal party politics.
It did this on the basis of an increasing body of research showing that young people are not necessarily apathetic, but find that formal party politics do not connect with their own lives. Making that connection requires a broader understanding of political life in which young people are actors and not only voters.
There are other hurdles to voter participation by young people related to the registration process. Attempts to obtain identity documents, drivers licences, voter cards, job benefits, and educational support often leave young people sceptical of the state, and that scepticism then extends to elections. This is a particular problem for young people making their own way in the world because their parents or their community are unable to give them access or support. The poor are thus particularly susceptible to being shut out early on.
It is therefore critical that schools play a role not only in civic education but in the support young people need to become self reliant and active in public life. At the very least, schools can and should be places where some of the state bureaucracy is mediated in ways which empower school leavers. It is ironic that such support seems most freely given in developed countries where it may be least needed.
