Ahead of the long-awaited local government election scheduled for Monday, February 26, the lingering sentiment of voter apathy appears to have gripped the emerging Gen Z demographic.

This is significant since the upcoming local election marks the first opportunity for civic engagement among the Gen Z cohort.

An informal survey conducted by Our Today reflected similar levels of disinterest as millennials, with only minimal pockets of engagement.

From the survey, among those contacted 22 per cent elected to respond. From that number 45 per cent indicated an interest in taking part in the election but cited barriers such as not being registered, and logistical challenges.

Among those surveyed was a 21-year-old student hailing from St Elizabeth who currently resides in Kingston for her studies. She explained that despite her familiarity with the candidates vying for local government positions, she may be forced to abstain from voting due to the logistical challenge of travelling from Kingston to St Elizabeth on the day of the election.

Speaking with Our Today, political commentator Lloyd B. Smith shed light on the historical roots of youth apathy towards the democratic process. He attributed this phenomenon to a combination of ignorance regarding the significance of civic participation and inadequate outreach from political entities toward the youth demographic. However, Smith noted that there has been some progress in recent years, particularly through increased engagement via social media platforms, which he believes may contribute to a slight improvement in voter turnout compared to previous elections.

According to the Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ), only 1,849,012 people were on the voter’s list as of May 2016 but only 573,415 actually cast ballots. The current list has 2,031,356 people.