Beyond the binary: examining dynamic youth voter behaviour in South Africa

The 2021 South African local government elections continued a trend of dissipating turnout among young voters. youth, aged 18–34, constitute nearly third SA's adult population, and their voting decisions could have decisive influence on electoral politics. Youth voter behaviour - including that the ‘born-free’ generation has been an area critical interest. However, this interest mostly yielded image people as disillusioned, consistent abstainers. We argue youth should be approached not binary voter/abstainer, but placed along voting-behavioural continuum. Our analysis UJElection Survey Social Attitudes data, supports concepts function markers continuum, ‘loyal voters', ‘casual ‘party-loyal abstainers' ‘consistent abstainers', each with different underlying motivations. Ultimately, dispels static notions, providing more nuanced complex picture behaviour.