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Political parties need to ascertain what matters to the youth.

Acting Head of the School of Governance, Development, and International Affairs at the University of the South Pacific, Associate Professor Sandra Tarte, says it’s not a unique challenge for Fiji to get the youth voters in particular.

In the 2018 General Election, youth aged 21 to 30 had a low voter turnout.

Tarte believes the parties are already doing the groundwork to understand what really matters to the youth.

“I think there will be different priorities for different sectors and for some, it will be education, a huge thing for some of the youth, places in tertiary institutions, and opportunities for new graduates. The question of debt for students that’s part of it and depending on where you’re campaigning you’ll have to identify the particular priorities that matter there.”

In this year’s General Election, 36,085 voters are in the 18 to 20 category, between 21 and 30 are 156,063 voters while the 31 to 40 category are 158782 voters.

The majority of Fiji’s population is under the age of 40.