17-year-olds voting for the first time in national elections elections, belong to an age group that has come under the microscope of major parties and political analysts. Their choice was awaited with great interest. The Genzs or “TIK TOK generation” brought 420,000 young people to the polls for the first time, among them, approximately 105,000 are 17-year-olds.

According to the results, among 17-24-year-olds, New Democracy came out on top with 31.5% versus 28.8% for SYRIZA (followed by PASOK with 10.5% and K.K.E. with 6.4% ). It is noted that in 2019 SYRIZA had a clear advantage of 6 points (37-31%) among young people, while in September 2015 the difference was 17 points in its favor (36-19%).

Major Party Voting

The 17-year-old who voted for the New Democracy party for the first time Sotiris G., A student of the 3rd secondary school, at a school in Marusi. His goal is to enroll in OPA’s Department of Administrative Science and Technology. Speaking about the experience of participation, he says the following: “It is right for someone to vote from the age of 17. I see this as an important decision that will help you become an adult. All 10 people from my company went to vote.”

Of course, Sotiris emphasizes that the tension of the pan-Greek party did not allow him to study the programs of the parties as much as he would like. As he usually says, “I would like to ‘search’ them. That’s why in the second election and since the exams are over, I’ll take a closer look at it“. However, he followed the campaigns of the major parties New Democracy, SYRIZA and PASOK on Tik Tok. One way or another, the algorithm continued to show the videos in question in his personal account.

“The videos of the premiere on this medium were more interesting, more beautiful“, he notes, explaining that: “They were easier to see, they were not as fake as SYRIZA, which released a message that simply said: “Vote for me.” At this point, Sotiris brings into the discussion and experience of the family the “historic” summer of 2015. “I may have been a child, but I remember the control of the capital and the care of my family. It also played a role in my final choice.” And what would a party that voted for change in the next four years say?

“I want that if I move to OPA, I can go to university and not spend half my time doing squats and incidents,” notes Sotiris.

The twin brothers are moving in a different ideological direction, Christ K. And Marios K.who live in Dionysus and study in the EPAL region. Their goal is to enter the Faculty of Engineering, Informatics and Computers at the University of Western Attica. They also happily voted, as they say, for SYRIZA, just like their father – their mother traditionally votes for the KPD.

Christ acknowledges that the political culture cultivated in their home played an important role in their choice. In fact, he in turn specifically refers to the summer of 2015. His family then supported the “No” choice and the decision of former Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. According to Marios, the two brothers were at gatherings with their parents that summer and lived vividly those moments that were imprinted in them. Having matured, they became an occasion to start following political events with interest.

The sectors in which they believe SYRIZA will be better than New Democracy are primarily the education sector. “I see it on our EPAL. These high schools are still considered lower level schools,” says Marios. “It’s also a health issue. We have seen from the example of our relatives how much they suffered in public hospitals,” adds Christos.

Being avid internet users, the two brothers watched campaign speeches by political leaders on You Tube.

feed TIK TOK showed both children video from the main parties. Both boys found them “sandy”. As expected, the disappointment of Marios and Christos with the result of the ballot box does not hide.

However, as young people, they want to remain optimistic. “Let’s hope that SYRIZA will regain its strength in the second election and make the necessary changes,” says Christos, while Marios says that he cannot represent any other political leader in SYRIZA than Alexis Tsipras.

Vote for something other than family

OUR Mary. TO he lives on a deserted island in the Aegean Sea. “I went with two of my classmates to vote. We just finished another Panhellenic prep competition at a tutoring school,” Maria says, adding with a touch of guilt: “The truth is, I felt a little weird because this decision matters, so I should have known better.” . She reports that she saw some campaign posts on Instagram and some others on TV at home, through programs her parents watched. However, Maria did not vote for the same party as them.

Her parents vote for New Democracy, while Maria voted for ANTARSIYAS. As for her other two classmates, one voted for SYRIZA and the other for New Democracy. Explaining the reason for her choice, she says: “I didn’t want to choose a big party because I didn’t feel well-informed to judge correctly. I explained to my parents that I am not obliged to vote for the party because they vote for it too.”

He also chose a party different from the one his parents vote for. Vasilis Tsukalas, who lives in Neos Kosmos and is preparing for exams directed to the Faculty of Communication and Culture of the University of Panteion. Vassilis says he considered all options before making a decision, as he is very interested in politics. “I took notes on my phone, pinning what I saw and was interested in on social networks and on news sites. I also searched the Internet for party programs and watched speeches on YouTube. I also saw debates that seemed very contrived and dated.”

Vassilis says that although he did not vote for the New Democracy party, it ran the best election campaign in terms of communication. “I watched a lot of performances by Mitsotakis. He mentioned positive elements, such as reducing VAT when the economy allows it, or gradually raising the minimum wage. He seemed the most confident of all. On the contrary, Tsipras and Andrulaki’s campaign speech was mechanistic, as they always say, with a lot of arm-waving.”

In the end, Vassilis also voted for ANTARSYA because, he said, he is disappointed with the parties that always get into parliament. “None of them really appeal to the youth,” he notes, mentioning that his parents vote for KKE (father) and SYRIZA (mother). “The only thing my parents told me was not to choose something far-right,” says Vassilis, who, although disappointed with the results, says he enjoyed the election very much.

“I would like the youth to be able to participate more actively in important issues, through electoral processes in decision making. We could, for example, do this when decisions are being made about important changes in the field of education.”

First review of results in this age group

Trying to understand for the first time how this age group is moving politically, o Vasilis VamvakasAssociate Professor of Sociology of Communication at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, mentions some facts that explain to some extent the choice of Benjamin voters.

“Firstly, the idea that young people massively choose leftist anti-systemic parties is a stereotype that is not confirmed,” he says and adds: “A very large percentage of WAP-NDFC in universities proves this. The young radical left is more politicized and more radicalized, but not numerically.

He also emphasizes that the main reason for the rise of New Democracy among the youngest is the general, massive and deep decline of SYRIZA.

“The opposition party has lost its strength at all times, so it lost from there. The issue of content and existence she faces has also affected this group of voters.”

As for the choice of one or another party based on family traditions, this, according to him, is also a strong factor influencing young voters, especially very young ones. “The situation seems to have changed dramatically only in 2015 in favor of SYRIZA,” notes Mr. Vamvakas, adding that the difference in voting from parents is also traditionally observed for reasons of differentiation or reaction, but to a much lesser extent. percent . Finally, Mr. Vamvakas emphasizes that the fact that Mitsotakis’s social media campaign was more elaborate and more appropriate for this audience played a role.

“Mitsotakis really tried to reach out to the youth through TIK TOK. He showed them the backstory of the political campaign by putting them in the game,” he notes, adding that Tsipras’ TIK TOK videos were “uncomfortable” as he tried to capitalize on the medium by pretentiously using the words of young people.