Those over 65 in the Valencian Community already exceed, according to the latest INE data, 20% of the Valencian population. There are around a million potential voters whose weight in the electoral balance increases in a census -remember that only those over 18 vote- which, in the 2019 regional elections, was 3,659,514 voters.
For this reason, it is especially interesting to examine the electoral behavior of these people who, thanks to the inverted pyramid, are key in any electoral result given their growing demographic weight in an increasingly aging population.
The analysis of the data that allows the CIS post-election survey that seeks the reasons for the results of the last Valencian elections makes it clear -with the exception that every survey has- that the oldest continue to be the main support of bipartisanship. In addition, the figures make it clear that these are faithful voters who are clear about what to vote for without having to wait for campaigns, electoral debates and surveys.
The CIS study -with the effect of the winning horse and with more respondents saying that they voted for the electoral winner (PSPV) than it really was- does allow us to draw a voter who clearly favors bipartisanship. Between the PSPV and the PP they would add 69.7% of the votes. That is, almost 7 out of 10 ballots.
Especially relevant is the vote for the Socialist Party, which in the regional elections would be 44.1% in this age group. It is, by far, the age group most faithful to the brand of the fist and the rose that begins to shoot its support from those over 55 years of age. Although it is true that the support of 28.5% among young people between the ages of 25 and 34 is not bad for the candidacy led by Ximo Puig in 2019.
Its most direct rival: the Popular Party, does not have such a good behavior. However, the popular ones exceed 25% only in the highest age group; in the rest of the sections they are below 20%. Be that as it may, the truth is that the largest pie of the electorate is shared between the two large traditional parties.
On the contrary, support for Unides Podem, Ciudadanos and Compromís moves between 6 and 5%. Vox remains at 1.6%, although it is true that many of his voters avoid saying that they voted for him.
Beyond the electoral result, what is clear is that the elderly are people who are not very prone to change. Thus, 76.2% ensure that they "always vote for the same party" or "in general they tend to vote for the same party", the highest percentage of the age groups analysed. It is curious because as one advances in age, loyalty is greater among voters.
In fact, faced with the decision to vote or not, only 2.5% hesitated between various parties or coalitions. And only 5.5% had decided to abstain, since they are a group that responds to the call to the polls.
That fidelity shown in the elections does not mean that the elderly are more conservative. In fact, on the ideological scale they are not the age group that -in the traditional left (1) right (10) positioning- are placed more to the right. Although it is true that they are more conservative than the average on this scale (the average is 4.7 and those over 65 are at 4.9), they are surpassed by the young.
Finally, the commitment of this age group to a territorial organization of the State in Spain based on a single central government is interesting. Likewise, it is the group that seems to be least comfortable with the current State of the autonomies.
