The Young Entrepreneur Association (ANJE) has released the findings of a 182-page study on young voters in the Dominican Republic. “Dominican Young Voters and their Impact on Democracy” was carried out by Alpha Consulting.
ANJE contracted the investigation acknowledging the recent contributions of young Dominicans to the strengthening of the institutional framework and democracy. “Young people have gone from being spectators to being at the center of the conversation of the major issues on the national agenda, characterizing their participation in the promotion of an increasingly transparent political culture and with a notable concern in around the social and economic impact of the country,” states Jaime Senior, president of ANJE in the introduction to the report.
Senior points out the relevance of young female voters in the 2024 elections, and the role played by the media. He stresses young voters want an electoral debate to be better informed and for people to be aware of the track record of who they are voting for.
Alpha Consulting polled 1,333 people ages 18 to 35 by telephone or using online surveys in Santo Domingo and Santiago de los Caballeros provinces and the capital city (National District). Focus groups with representatives of business associations, directors of organizations and news media were also polled. An interview with a member of the Central Electoral Board is also part of the report.
The conclusion is that the young Dominican voter is mostly a woman, with a secondary education and who earns less than RD$30,000 a month (47.8%). 33% are in the RD$30,001 to RD$135,000 earnings range. 8.5% make more than RD$135,000 a month. The young voters have a certain degree of economic independence.
75% said they had a permanent job and 62% said they were worked in the private sector.
Voters 18 to 35 make up 35% of the total eligible voters. The numbers have increased from 2,644,189 in 2016 to 2,982,409 in 2020 and 3,027,211 by February 2024 when the municipal elections will take place, according to the Central Electoral Board (JCE) data for June 2023.
The ANJE report indicates that young people’s top areas of interest are:
Citizen security, 43.1%
Education, 40.1%
Health, 34.7%
Training, employability and wages, 29.8%
Corruption, 23.4%
Those polled also highlighted the importance they attribute to transparency in government.
Other findings:
60.1% have considered moving abroad
58.7% use social networks, with Instagram being the network of choice with 60.1%, followed by Facebook with 15.8% and Twitter with 11.5%.
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Listin Diario
27 July 2023