Young people vote differently | tagesschau.de

The 16- to 24-year-old age group has its own favorites: the CDU/CSU and AfD received the most votes, but almost a third of all votes also went to small parties. What’s behind this?

If you look at how people between the ages of 16 and 24 voted in the European elections, one thing becomes clear at first glance: “The one party that you vote for your whole life is something that young people do not see as a model for their voting biography,” says Torsten Faas, political scientist at the Free University of Berlin.

In fact, young people voted very differently this time than in 2019. The CDU and CSU have gained ground and are leading the rankings. 17 percent voted for the Union, an increase of five percentage points. No other party is doing better. “I am of course pleased that we have had disproportionate gains in the younger generation,” says Jan Redmann, CDU politician from Brandenburg. He is the leading candidate for the state elections in a few months.

The head of the Junge Union, Johannes Winkel, is also pleased with his party’s success among younger people. In his view, they are particularly concerned that prosperity is declining.

The AfD celebrates success among younger people

During the election campaign, the AfD in particular used all kinds of fears to stir up sentiment. This also helped the party score points with the younger generation, coming in second with 16 percent – despite the scandals surrounding the leading candidate Maximilian Krah.

Hidden by his own party during the election campaign and now even elected from the European delegation, Krah nevertheless presented himself contentedly on his TikTok channel. “We need a policy from the right. We will implement this in the next few days. For your trust, your support, for everything you have done, even when I had to remain silent: my thanks,” said Krah.

Heavy blow for the Greens

For the Greens, the performance among young voters is a disaster. The party lost almost two thirds of the votes.

To turn things around, Svenja Appuhn of the Green Youth has clear expectations of her party: “The federal government is committed to improving material living conditions and thereby allaying people’s fears about the future. These are the issues of more affordable housing, better training remuneration, and socially well-balanced climate protection.”

Chancellor’s party without oomph

And the SPD? Remains more or less stable at a poor level. Just nine percent of 16- to 24-year-olds voted for the Chancellor’s party.

A total of seven percent of those under 25 have infratest dimpa voted for the European party Volt. In the current European elections, the party called for the EU to be expanded into a federal state, for veto rights of EU member states to be abolished, for the energy supply to be completely converted to green energy by 2035 and for the sea rescue of migrants to be legalized. Overall, Volt achieved 2.5 percentage points.

Diverse vote

Almost every third vote of young voters went to small parties that otherwise play hardly any role in Germany. This is “extraordinary in terms of magnitude,” says political scientist Faas. He sees the reasons for this in the lack of a threshold clause and in dissatisfaction with the government and opposition, which is not generating euphoria everywhere.

Many experts believe that this could remain the case in the future. This is anything but good news for the large, established parties.