Only 34% of EU citizens will surely vote
1. I wonder, is this representative?
2. Is this democracy?
3. Is it fair when the few decide for all?
4. Should voting become obligation?
An opinion poll on interest in the 4-7 June European elections and on EU policy issues reports that 34% of possible voters surveyed across the EU say they are already certain that they will go and vote in June, while 19% of respondents said they were already certain that they would not vote.
SURE YES
According to the Eurobarometer poll, which was conducted from mid-January to mid-February, the share of respondents who are most likely to vote is highest in Belgium (70%), Luxembourg (62%), Denmark and Malta (56%). Greece and Cyprus are in the sixth position with 48% of the people saying that they are most likely to vote.
SURE NO
On the other hand, the share of respondents who say they will definitely not vote is the largest in the UK (30%), Poland (19%), Latvia, Spain and Hungary (18%). In Greece and Cyprus, this percentage is 10% and 14% respectively.
GREEKS MOST INTERESTED IN EP ELECTIONS!
As regards the interest of the people for the European elections, the highest percentage is recorded in Greece (62%), Ireland (61%) and Malta (59%). In Cyprus 52% of the voters are interested in the elections.
WHY NOT VOTE?
According to the poll, 64% of the respondents have said that the main reason that they will not vote in the elections, is that they do not know enough about the role of the European Parliament. Sixty-two per cent have said that their vote will not change anything and 20% have said that they are against Europe, the European Union, the European construction.
CRITERIA FOR VOTING
Regarding the criteria for choosing a candidate, 65% of the Cypriots, the highest percentage in the EU, have said that their vote is based on the position of candidates on national issues.
(10 votes, average: 3.50 out of 5)
Loading ...
1. Maybe not.
2. Yes.
3. As long as the rest had the same opportunity.
4. I’d like to see it tried.
With voter turn-out so low, the legitimacy of the EP is seriously undermined.
But do you think this is an issue with the public (as Andrei argues: they had the opportunity to vote, but, after weighing everything up and in full possession of all the facts, decided to exercise their right not to use their vote) or is it an issue with the EU? Is the EU so overly complex or so disconnected from the public that it is failing to function as a democratic entity?
I believe that the EU has not managed to create a feeling of unity among its citizens.
The EU system is too complicated, it does not allow people to understand its function.
So, as a result, EU citizens are not interested in an election, for an institution they do not understand.
On the other hand, being indifferent is not a positive attitude.
An election, in which only a small percentage of voters participate is in my view not representative and thus not democratic enough.
Maybe, if elections were obligatory? Would that make a difference? For citizens to be interested and the EU to think about better ways to get through to the people?
I wonder.
I don’t know if obligatory voting would be such a good idea. A lot of people probably still wouldn’t vote, and so they’d either be fined en masse or the EU would have to admit it couldn’t force people to vote. Either way, it would be a disaster for the EU.
Reasons vote or not differ. Some vote because of habit or to show support to some party at national level. Some know that EP has nothing to do with their interests because all important topics will be decided at national level, between national governments in EU and occasionally in Commission bureaucracy.
As it is anyway insignificant which celebrity (passé), talk show host, athletic (ex), second class retired politician or populist is elected to EP to misuse taxpayers money the whole show is taken too seriously. Voting turnout could be increased by using e-voting so the whole event could be made with same efforts than any other market survey.
Ari, I like the idea of e-voting. Maybe during next elections?