Voting day this Saturday in Slovakia, Italy, Latvia, Malta and the Czech Republic. This Sunday, twenty countries, including Germany and France, will nominate their European deputies. Observers will monitor the participation rate.
A sign that the European elections are an aggregation of 27 national ballots, with an electoral calendar and often distinct issues, voters from five countries were called to the polls this Saturday: in Slovakia, Latvia, Malta, Czech Republic, and Italy (where electoral operations will continue this Sunday).
But as in other countries, where the vote is already closed, such as in the Netherlands, we will have to wait until Sunday evening to get an overview of the final results across the continent, when voters in twenty countries (including France, Germany and Poland) have also voted.
If this consultation promises to be one of the most controversial and contested in its history by Eurosceptic, populist or far-right parties, all eyes will once again be on the abstention rate.
But as Tomasz Kanievcky, analyst at the Euronews Polling Center, explains, “we cannot forget that we are not talking about a European election, but about 27 national elections. The approach to abstentionism will therefore certainly be different depending on the countries where these elections take place and depending on the current issues.”
According to the Euronews polling center, the participation of young voters could increase in France and Germany. But these young voters could be tempted to vote for the far right. Another example: Italy where abstentionism could be significant.
Rebound in electoral participation in 2019
Last May, however, our survey indicated a certain appetite among voters for this 2024 campaign.
During the last European elections in 2019, it was in Slovakia that the highest abstention rate was recorded. We will have to see if, after the assassination attempt on anti-European left-wing populist Prime Minister Robert Fico, the trend will be reversed.
Since the organization of the first European election by direct universal suffrage in 1979, in which 61.99% of Europeans consulted participated, the participation rate has literally collapsed in the EUballot after ballot, reaching its lowest peak in 2014 with a rate of 42.61% before a notable recovery in 2019 (50.66% participation).
In the midst of the war in Ukraine, while the EU faces a series of recurring crises and challenges, including climate change, the question is whether in 2024, European voters will mobilize more than in 2019.
Response Sunday evening on euronews and euronews.com.
