Election Resource Centre Launches Study On The Nature Of Youth Participation In Electoral And Political Processes In Zimbabwe

By Wallace Mawire As Zimbabwe heads towards the much awaited 2023 Harmonised elections to be held on the 23 of August, a public civic society oriented organization, the Election Resource Centre (ERC) has launched a study on the nature of youth participation in electoral and political processes at a time a large marjority of youths in the country have been reported not to be actively participating in the elections or voting. The Election Resource Centre (ERC) Africa conducted a survey in May 2023 ahead of the 2023 Harmonised Election scheduled for 23 August 2023 to determine the level of youth participation in electoral processes in Zimbabwe. The survey was conducted with youth in the two major cities of Zimbabwe (Harare and Bulawayo). The organization  collected responses from 694 respondents of which 53% were female and 47% were male. In the cohort there was similar representation hovering around 25% for the age groups 21 to 25 years; 26 to 30 years and 31 to 35 years with a low turnout in the 18 to 20 age group at 19%. The survey uncovered that 31% of youth are formally employed, 25% are self-employed, 26% are students and 19% are unemployed. “We also noted that 27% have no income at all, mostly students and the unemployed groups. A large number (46%) earn between US$100 and US$500 per month and only 3% of the total sample earns more than US$1,000 per month,” ERC said. It added that most respondents have achieved education levels higher than primary school education (99%). It was also  noted that 38% have secondary education, 28% have undergraduate degrees and 26% have diplomas whilst 7% have master's degrees. “When considering voting habits and patterns we discovered that prior to the 2023 Harmonised Election, many youth had cast votes in the 2018 election where 44% had voted compared to 22% in 2013 and 8% in 2008,” ERC added. The organization added that since many were still too young to cast their vote compared to previous years there is a significant rise in the number of youths who expressed a desire to vote. ERC says that according to the survey as many as 71% of youths are registered and ready to vote in the upcoming 2023 Harmonised Election. Ninety-four per cent (94%) of the registered youth are also determined to not waste their registration status and are going to proceed and cast their vote. The biggest motivation to vote is a desire to see a change in government expressed by 38% who said they are voting because they think another government can do a better job with the economy, 26% just want to see different faces and personalities in government and 25% attributed their desire to vote to a fulfilment of civic duty. ERC says that a small minority of the sample (6%) indicated that they will not cast their vote in the forthcoming elections despite being registered to vote. The youths indicated they have no confidence in the election process with 42% of that sub-group saying they “don't think elections work”. Smaller groups of youth indicated that they will not be able to get their documents in time (13%) whilst 10% said that they lived too far from where they registered to vote and another 10% have no confidence in the election candidates presented so far. Of the 29% who are not registered to vote, the most significant reasons expressed for non-registration were that they were not available during the time of voter registration (21%), have no desire to vote (20%), do not know how to register (16%) and do not have the necessary identification documents (10%). Of the 29% that are not registered to vote, the majority (67%) of that sub-group has no desire to proceed with trying to register to vote if the opportunity to do so presents itself. ERC said that they  also note that an overwhelming majority of youth (97%) who are registered to vote have already decided who to vote for in the upcoming election when it comes to deciding on the office of The President/ Head of State whilst two-thirds (66%) have decided who to vote for when it comes to members of parliament and ward councillors. “We discovered that youth have a propensity to attend rallies more than becoming members of political parties as shown by only 22% of youth having formal ties with political parties through card membership but up to 40% have attended at least one rally in the past. Thirty-nine per cent (39%) of youth feel that young people do not participate in electoral processes because they have lost trust in the election process and its ability to bring results,” ERC said. The organization added that  Fourteen per cent (14%) feel that young people have not connected elections with the larger development agenda and 13% feel young people have no space during elections and therefore do not identify with the election process. ERC says that furthermore, the majority of youth (93%) have never participated in policy formulation processes and up to 81% of youth have never considered running for public office. According to the ERC, the survey results and study conducted on youth participation in electoral processes in Zimbabwe provides some important insights that can help various institutions and stakeholders working with youth. The organization has also come up with some recommendations for various sectors in the country. For Civil Society Organizations, ERC recommends that in the run-up to elections, civil society organisations have focused energies on the drive to push youths to register to vote. A high number of youth indicated in the survey that they were registered to vote (71%) or intended to register to vote (9%). However, there is still concern with those youth that are not interested in voting and are not registered to vote. In addition, ERC says that there is a drastic fall in the levels of participation by youth in public processes after elections, yet this is where the real work of democracy begins. Recommendations for civil society organisations,especially those working with youth are as follows that voter education programmes need to target the younger first-time voters, especially those in the 18 to 20 year age range, and in particular those from especially those from low-income areas,undertaking and engaging in programming or activities that focus on civic engagement/duties before and after elections,supporting youths with platforms to advocate for more affordable entries into the political arena so that youths issues can be prioritized and the political landscape can be one which they can identify with and where they see themselves represented,providing platforms for youth to engage with the political and public policy process (beyond just elections) at local and national levels to ensure youths voices and inputs are incorporated. ERC says that youths voices and ideas must be part of the day-to-day decision-making and planning in between election cycles that contributes to the larger and more long-term development agenda of the country. Focusing on building youth social movements and enhancing youths agency for sustained advocacy and inclusion of youths voices and in issues in electoral and political processes and youths representation. For Political Parties, the study noted very little involvement of youth in political spaces with only 22% indicating that they were card-carrying members or formally registered with a political party and only 19% indicating they would run for public office. ERC says that the major reason for those who indicated that they would not consider running for public office was lack of interest. ERC said that however, the youths vote is growing and forms a considerable amount of the potential voting group and also current and future political party members. ERC said that Political Parties based on the study of youths in Bulawayo and Harare should possibly consider recommendations to increase youths participation such as promoting youths engagement throughout the cycle of policy and manifesto formulation, election campaigning, participation as candidates and in the administration of elections,minimising activities that will cause mistrust through contested results or violence before, during, and after elections, both at the national level and also intra-party selection processes,doing  more to create a sense of membership and ownership of the political process and the systems that govern them. For international development partners and actors,according to the ERC, the insights from the study point towards the need to channel resources towards supporting programmes and initiatives focused on the registration of first-time voters or youths who have never voted before, training and advocacy work beyond just voter education towards much broader civic education for youth and the creation of opportunities for engagement and dialogue with decision-makers and public officials around policy formulation, implementation and evaluation,initiatives that will enhance youths understanding and participation in policy formulation, implementation and evaluation at both local and national government levels (sustained engagement and participation beyond just elections) and  enhancing youths agency (movement building) and supporting youth-led structures. ERC says that it was noted that urban youths in Zimbabwe are eager to get involved in the 2023 Harmonised Election and have expressed this through a desire to vote. However, there are concerns about their involvement in the larger development agenda of the country and in post-election activities. The organization says that young people need to get involved in civic activities within their communities outside of the election cycle so they can grow in an understanding of civic duty including duty during elections. ERC adds that an understanding of civic duty will also lead to engagement with all aspects of elections such as election administration, campaigning and policy formulation at the party level. They add that there is a strong and urgent need to restore trust in the election process by minimising activities that will cause mistrust through contested results or violence before, during, and after elections. In addition, ERC says that more structural considerations should be made to improve the accessibility of elections to candidates of different ages and genders by reviewing the costs of registering as a candidate, creating systems of redress for online violence and bullying, ensuring a lack of physical violence and protests and improving the conversation around youths issues throughout the election cycle. ERC says that the study they  conducted in Harare and Bulawayo demonstrates the perceptions of youths in those cities. “Although our findings are representative of those cities, we do not claim that our data is representative of all youths in Zimbabwe. There is a need therefore to conduct more surveys that analyse the voting patterns of rural and peri-urban youth in all the provinces in Zimbabwe. Our survey did not incorporate qualitative methods to harness youths opinions in a systematic way,” ERC said. It adds that therefore, more studies must be conducted such as (but limited to) focus group discussions, scoring of youths satisfaction on national policies and intra-party assessment of their political parties. According to ERC, other surveys that could be conducted include post-election surveys to understand youth satisfaction with the election process and election results, actual voting patterns of youths and priorities for the incoming government. It says that more studies can additionally be conducted to uncover the ways in which youths feel they can be involved in the election cycle.  find the Factsheet attached and find the full study here: