Lost Edae Women's Votes: Will They Scatter or Abstain from Voting?

'Idaenam' Leaning Toward Yoon
'Idaenyeo' Unable to Find Direction

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] With the 2022 presidential election just 27 days away, the voting intentions of ‘Idaenyeo (women in their 20s)’ remain uncertain. Both candidates, Lee Jae-myung and Yoon Seok-youl, have released pledges targeting ‘Idaenam (men in their 20s),’ effectively placing female voters as a lower priority. As 20-something women struggle to find a political reference group to support, political apathy is on the rise among this demographic. Consequently, the proportion of undecided voters among women in their 20s who answer ‘none’ or ‘don’t know/no response’ when asked about their preferred candidate in the four-way race is increasing, even as the election approaches.

According to a recent weekly survey (conducted February 2?4 nationwide with 1,509 men and women aged 18 and older) commissioned by OhmyNews and conducted by Realmeter, the group with the highest percentage of undecided voters across all gender and age combinations was women aged 18?29, at 13.4%. Comparing with previous surveys, the undecided rate among women in their 20s was 9% in the second week of January (9?14), 11.8% in the third week (16?21), 12.7% in the fourth week (23?28), and 13.4% in the first week of February (2?4). Despite the election drawing near, the number of women in their 20s who have yet to decide on a candidate is increasing.

Experts attribute this phenomenon to the low political efficacy felt by women in their 20s. Professor Park Sang-byeong of Inha University explained, “Women in their 20s are diverse and not consolidated or organized into groups, making it difficult for their voting intentions to lean strongly in one direction and causing large variations.” He added, “The Democratic Party has failed to recover from disappointing 20-something women on gender issues.” Political commentator Lee Jong-hoon said, “Idaenyeo lack political symbols or reference points they can identify with, unlike ‘Idaenam’s Lee Jun-seok party leader.’”

[Image source=Yonhap News]

This trend is also seen as a consequence of the candidates themselves. Both leading candidates in the presidential race are not free from gender-related controversies. Candidate Yoon has proposed policies targeting ‘Idaenam,’ such as abolishing the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and raising soldiers’ monthly pay to 2 million won, strategically deprioritizing female voters. Candidate Lee has increased female voters’ unfavorable views due to scandals involving actresses, insults toward his sister-in-law, his nephew’s defense in a stalking murder case, and sexual misconduct allegations against Democratic Party members.

It is essentially predicted that a significant portion of women in their 20s may give up their ‘right to vote.’ Professor Choi Chang-ryeol of Yongin University said, “Those who respond as undecided so far will remain as the ‘last neutral group’ and will not make a decision.” Professor Park Sang-cheol of Kyonggi University’s Graduate School of Political Studies stated, “All struggles for rights develop through elections. Following the feminism reboot triggered by the Gangnam Station incident, 20-something women should be raising a united voice, but such a trend is not visible.”

Meanwhile, the survey conducted by Realmeter for OhmyNews was carried out using random digit dialing (RDD) for both landline and mobile phones, combining telephone interviews and automated responses. The response rate was 9.3%, with a sampling error of ±2.5 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. For more details, refer to the Central Election Survey Deliberation Commission website.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.