Youthful electorate moves away from the Greens; AfD gains traction.
The younger generation in Germany's European elections shows a stark contrast compared to older generations. New data released suggests that a majority of young voters are lean towards the conservative and right-wing populist party. The Greens party, however, seems to be struggling.
Having voted for the first time, 16- and 17-year-olds had their say in the elections, and polls indicate that both the AfD and CDU/CSU received 17% each from this age group (as of 6:30pm on ZDF). The Greens were in third place with 11% of the votes, while the SPD found itself in a tie with Volt at 9%, the Left with 7%, and FDP and BSW at 6%.
The ARD also shared figures from Infratest dimap, which revealed a similar trend (as of 6:39pm). Young voters aged 25 years and below tipped 17% for the Union and AfD respectively. The Greens obtained 11% of the votes. The SPD gained 9%, and Volt secured the same percentage as the SPD. The Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) attained 6%.
Researchers believe that the Greens experienced the most significant setback among the younger voters. According to ZDF's evening forecast at 6pm, the Green party's loss narrowed to 18% among those aged 30 and under. The ARD's election analysis backed this claim, stating that the party faced the largest loss (18%) among the younger demographic. Meanwhile, the AfD gained 10% in support, Volt experienced a 9% increase, and BSW also secured 6% more votes. The progress made by other parties was relatively marginal.
Greens party co-chair, Terry Reintke, commented on the election results, expressing her concern over the right-wing shift, particularly after assessing the disparity between youth and older voters.
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Despite their concerns about the shift towards right-wing populist parties, the Greens Alliance 90 experienced a significant loss in support among younger voters during the European elections. On the other hand, the AfD gained traction, attracting a substantial portion of the youth vote.
