Hello, you are not talking about the record abstention among young people (in millions), who have moved away from politics in view of this campaign. Thank you for giving this figure which is significant.
Bonjour dear reader and thank you for your question. The abstention figures, especially among young people, are not yet known.
The abstention rate during the presidential election is higher in the United States than in France, yes, but this cannot be explained only by the disinterest of voters.
In the last presidential election in 2020, turnout in the United States had reached 66.6%a record since 1900. Although this figure is high in the United States, it remains far behind the participation rate in the 2022 French presidential election, where 77.9% of voters turned out in the first round.
However, these two elections are difficult to compare. In the United States, the president is elected indirectly: citizens vote for electors who, in turn, elect the president. The voter therefore does not directly put a ballot in the box for a specific candidate (here Trump or Harris) whereas this is the case in France.
In addition, in France, the abstention rate is calculated in relation to the number of registered voters who represent almost the entire population of voting age. On the other hand, in the United States, the number of registrants is much lower to the number of citizens of voting age, abstention is therefore calculated in relation to all people having the right to vote.
Since a 1997 law, French citizens aged 18 have been automatically registered on the electoral roll. The registration rate is therefore very high: 94.2% of French people were registered on the lists in 2022. On the other hand, in 26 of the 50 American states, registration on the lists is not automaticleading to a high rate of non-registered people. Estimating this number of non-registered people is difficult.
