Facts & Findings

EU Elections - Where Are the Voters?

by Franziska Fislage

Study about the low turnout in new EU Member States

From 22 to 25 May 2014, EU citizens went to the polls to cast their votes for a new EU Parliament. Almost 60 per cent of eligible voters stayed away. Turnout throughout Europe was therefore lower than ever before in European Union history. An analysis of the figures for the 28 EU Member States shows that turnout was particularly low in countries of Central and Eastern Europe, which did not join the EU until 2004 and 2013 in the course of the eastern EU enlargement. Investigation of the underlying reasons for the low turnout and some recommendations for action on how turnout could be increased.