Surge in students and unemployed casting their vote

THE February general election results for Fine Gael and Labour were spurred on by a surge in votes from students, the 18-24 age group and the growing list of the unemployed.

Details provided in a new Central Statistics Office survey suggests voter participation in the specific groups rose significantly in 2011 compared to a similar study compiled for the 2002 general election .

According to the findings, based on voter interest and abstention questions answered by 33,612 people in the April-June quarterly national household survey, 82% of those surveyed took part in this year’s election, compared to 76% in 2002.

Within this figure, there was a clear rise in participation among men (82% compared to 76%), women (82% compared to 76%), in all regions, all educational levels and all age groups.

The largest growth in participation was apparent among students (71% compared to 52%), the 18-24 age group — most likely to be affected by emigration (62% compared to 50%) — and the unemployed (70% compared to 59%).

Among the 1,311 people who told the survey they were eligible but did not vote, 783 were women and 528 were men.

those choosing not to vote despite their eligibility were more likely to live in urban areas (780) than rural locations (531).

The largest age group for this section was the 18-34 bracket (529), followed by 35-54 (460) and 55-plus (322).

Within these demographics, the most common reason for not voting despite being registered to do so was difficulty in getting to the polling station.

A total of 15% said they were away from home on polling day, 11% had difficulty in getting to the polling station and 5% were living too far away from where their vote was registered to cast their vote.

However, one in five survey respondents also said they did not take part in this year’s election because they were either not interested in or too disillusioned with politics.

Just 2% of non-voters cited a lack of information or knowledge as the main reasons.

Respondents who left school with just primary-level schooling (18%) were more likely to say they did not vote because they were disillusioned with politics, compared with those educated to secondary level (8%).