Young people are so bad at voting – I'm disappointed in my peers

There’s a Henry Asquith quote inscribed on a square I often walk by: “Youth would be an ideal state if it came a little later in life.”

A little later in life. It’s a wonderful idea. Retain the optimism and the energy; but keep it for when one has learned the consequences of actions (or non-action). Learned which things are worth worrying about and which are not. Mastered how to keep time and compromise and think long term.

Of course, this wouldn’t really be youth at all (the thrill of youth is pushing back the sunrise to make time for another drink, to hell with tomorrow; tomorrow doesn’t exist). But how I wish tomorrow had existed this past Thursday in the minds of young people who did not vote.

We cannot know for certain the demographic turnouts on 23 June, because there was no exit poll. So don’t let any figure thrown around under pretence of being cast-iron fool you. That figure does not exist. But we have some guidance. Sky Data put 18-24 turnout at 36% and 25-34 turnout (also millennials) at 58%: but it was projected – representing those who said they were certain to vote and had done so in the past. Data crunched by the FT found that “on a general basis, areas with younger populations had lower turnout” and the Guardian, Telegraph and BBC data all back this up.

Young people have a problem here. Because even if youth turnout for the referendum was closer to, or surpassed that, of the 2015 general election, that figure itself was just 43% for the 18-24 age group. For 25-34s, it was 54%. Nobody can quibble with the assertion that young people in the UK are bad at voting.

I have always thought the sense of disenfranchisement for those who live in safe seats at a general election is understandable. The first-past-the-post system means that, for a lot of people, their cross-in-a-box is as good as useless.

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But what is most disheartening is when people do not vote because they feel politicians do nothing for them. Often, the people who do not vote are right: politicians have done nothing for them. But, quite frankly, that is because under the current system, politicians won’t do anything for the people who do not vote. Politicians implement policies for the people who return them to power. Older people vote. Now see: triple-lock pensions, free bus passes and TV licences, protection from cuts.

Meanwhile, the UK Generation Y has been mercilessly let down. Sometimes I wake up angry about it. Sometimes I go to bed angry about it. We have been denied the free education and affordable housing enjoyed by elders. And – assuming Brexit does actually happen – we shall be denied free movement.

When polled before the vote, 73% of young people supported remain. The young will have to live with this decision the longest. It is we who take up the benefit of being part of the EU most readily, travelling and working abroad; we who have grown up with friends of different nationalities; we who define as European and global citizens (this does not negate Britishness); we whose eyes have been opened via the Erasmus programme; we for whom the only true border that exists is a poor Wi-Fi connection.

But this referendum has not – by its very definition – “disenfranchised” young people. At least not those over 18. As that Operation Black Vote poster had it, every vote was equal. But not enough of us used it.

I’ve had millennial peers tell me that they didn’t vote because they didn’t know the referendum was happening. This despite the big money spent on a youth voting drive. Pre-roll YouTube adverts; ads designed to look like club signs. It was an extraordinary novelty: David Cameron courting the youth vote. Celebrities such as Lily Allen, Keira Knightley, Idris Elba and Emma Watson encouraged individuals to vote. Unless you were in a six-month K-Hole, I have no idea how you could have missed all this.

I have also had peers tell me they did not vote because they were confused and didn’t understand. To which I say: barely any of us understood, regardless of age. There is no doubt that the lies promulgated on both sides showed scorn for the British people, made a mockery of our supposed new era of “good, honest politics”. But, when you don’t know about something, to paraphrase Larry David, well then you learn. You learn. £350m per week to the EU? Let Me Google That For You.

But there’s an even more curious and infuriating type of non-voter. Young people who are engaged in the political process, but don’t end up voting. Social media has much to answer for. I have argued before that tech can be helpful when encouraging engagement – Facebook’s voter status initiative, for instance – and I see that changing your profile picture to a French flag, or a Rainbow flag helps you to feel better and does contribute to a nicer, supportive tone of discourse – it has its place – but when it comes to affecting policy change, it’s as good as hovering a pencil over the box and crossing the air.

It’s the same school of thought that has Jeremy Corbyn eschewing mainstream media because he has, um, 525,000 Twitter followers. Newsflash: avatars of eggs don’t win elections. People quite rightly talk of the Westminster bubble. The media bubble. But there is a Twitter bubble and a Facebook feedback loop. Social media was supposed to widen our world, but its algorithms can shrink it entirely. I am concerned that young people – but not just young people – think that changing their name to a referendum-related pun or re-gramming Jean Jullien equals a vote.

So, could greater turnout of young people have swung the result for remain? It isn’t clear cut: the UK has more old people than young. But I believe a stronger youth vote could have made a difference and I’m not the only one.

Remain lost by 1,269,501 votes. Raw data suggests there are at least 13 million millennials in the UK (and that data doesn’t include 18-20s). Young people were skewed remain, as were the more educated (and 40% of young people now go to university). And for those young people who aren’t students? Well, I’m not certain that the correlation between C2/DE social brackets and leave would have been as strong among young people.

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How can we get young people to vote? If they struggle to understand and engage with politics then more must be done to educate them, in schools, colleges and universities. We must weave politics and the voting process into the fabric of school education, as has become the case with sex education.

Parents and families must encourage their kids to take an interest. Politicians themselves must be more representative of society. It puts many people off – and who can blame them – to see two Etonians scrapping over the EU like a game of Fives. The political system itself must become more accessible, less esoteric. One of the few good things about Corbyn’s shadow cabinet is the youth affairs and engagement post.

In votes such as the EU referendum which will disproportionately affect the future of the young, we must look at introducing the vote for 16- and 17-year-olds. This was the case in the Scottish referendum, and turnout and engagement was strong.

And we must make it easier for people to vote. Why the hell are votes held on weekdays? In France, elections are held on weekends. Why does Britain retain one of the most cumbersome voting systems in the world? Why was this vote held at the end of term time, when many students had left the constituencies they were eligible to vote in? Why the registration changes that needlessly made it more difficult for the students to vote and wiped millions from the electoral roll?

This isn’t to let young people off the hook. Elderly people have mobility issues to contend with. Parents juggle dashing to the polling station with picking up children. Stations are open from 7am–10pm which should offer plenty of time. The issues – work, leaves on the line, awful weather, watching the football – that depress voter turnout are the same for all of us. And low turnout among the strongest remain areas – including Scotland and Northern Ireland – must carry a chunk of the blame for the EU referendum result. But I am still disappointed in my peers who didn’t bother to vote. How many of those who registered online during the extended deadline made it to the ballot box? Or did it feel like they had already done so?

With Cameron’s resignation, and the Labour party in crisis, there is likely to be a general election held before the end of the year. The most important thing for young people to do is vote. X marks the spot.