George Simion’s party, AUR, ranks first with 16% in the preferences of young people between 18 and 35 years old, for the parliamentary elections. USR and PNL follow, tied with 14%, PSD 12% and S.O.S. Romania, led by Diana Șoșoacă, with 5%.
If we refer only to those who say they will vote, AUR would have been voted by 23% of the young people who express their intention to vote. For the European Parliament, the PSD-PNL coalition (measured together) is in first place in voting intentions, with 18%. In second place is AUR, with 16%, followed by Alianţa Dreapta Unită, which would collect 14% of the young people’s votes.
The complete data of the survey, commissioned by the non-partisan organization Tinerii Voteaza, will be presented to the public on Wednesday, from 15:00, at the Parliament, in the presence of several deputies, diplomats, representatives of the academic environment, pupils and students.
The research has been conducted by IRES in March 2024.
The youth’s voting intention, declared by them, is double compared to 4 years ago
The figures show that more than half of the young people surveyed say they will “definitely” go to each of the four rounds of elections, and a quarter of the respondents will “most likely” vote. The presidential elections would have the highest turnout, with 63% of young people saying they will definitely vote, while 24% will vote “most likely”.
In the European and parliamentary elections, the two categories add up to 83%, and in local elections – 89%, IRES figures show. In the elections for the Parliament in December 2020, only 25% of the young people on the electoral lists voted, the lowest turnout in the last 4 years, data from the Central Electoral Bureau showed.
In the previous European Parliament elections, from May 2019, 43.2% of young people aged between 18 and 34 turned out to vote, according to the figures of the Romanian Youth Council.
PSD-PNL Coalition ranks first in youth’s voting intentions for EP elections
For the European parliamentary elections, the polling institute measured the PSD-PNL Alliance as a coalition, while in the parliamentary elections the two parties are measured separately.
Thus, in the European Parliament, the PSD-PNL alliance takes first place, with 18% voting intention. In second place is AUR, with 15%, followed by the United Right Alliance, which would gather 14% of the young people’s votes. The fourth place in the ranking is contested by the party S.O.S. Romania, led by Diana Şoşoacă, and by the REPER party, led by Dacian Cioloş, both gathering 3% of the youth vote. However, the highest percentage is of undecided young people, representing 23% of all responses.
AUR leads in general elections, PSD and PNL measured separately
The Alliance for the Union of Romanians dominates the ranking regarding the intention to vote in the parliamentary elections, where PSD and PNL are measured separately. Thus, 16% of the young people surveyed said they would choose AUR, with USR and PNL in second place in their preferences, equal to 14%. PSD would gather 12% of the youth vote. The party S.O.S. is in fourth place. Romania, with a score of 5%. The share of undecided young people is lower than in the European Parliament elections, 12% of young people saying that they have not yet decided who to put their stamp on.
The IRES research generated reactions both from the political environment and from civil society. “As long as AUR is an accepted party in Romanian democracy, we must also accept the fact that there can be people, even young people, even with schooling, who find themselves in their message. Demonizing them is a big mistake“, Daniel David, rector of Babeş-Bolyai University, told HotNews.ro.
PSD and PNL believe that TikTok is to blame for the Romanian youth’s preference for AUR. The TikTok platform must be regulated urgently, even in the 2024 election year, because it has become a platform on which extremist messages are distributed, with popularity among young people, argued Lucian Romașcanu (PSD) and Rareș Bogdan (PNL).
“I think that those from AUR have won a young electorate thanks to the way they communicate”, declared USR vice-president Ionuţ Moşteanu, while AUR leader George Simion thinks that “young people are fed up with USR”.
The Alliance for the Romanians’ Union (AUR) is dubbed as a far-right, extremist party, which entered Parliament at the previous elections in 2020. Since then, they have had an upward trend.
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