Abstention as a last weapon for European protest

From Athens Newspaper Headlines of the Athens News Agency:

ELEFTHEROS: "Abstention is leading - Voters' tendency terrifies the two mainstream parties".


From Number of Europeans keen to vote in EU elections increases (EU Observer):

The survey also shows people's awareness of the election date has increased – 49 percent now say they will take place in June, compared to 16 percent last month.

The citizens of Malta, Hungary and Cyprus were best informed on the issue, while the Finns, Portuguese and Dutch were the least knowledgeable about the voting date.

Contradictory results

The poll also indicates that 53 percent of the people are now interested in the elections and 46 percent are not, with the result contradicting those of a similar survey from last week.

That poll – also carried out by TNS Opinion – for the French Political Innovation Foundation showed the exact opposite trend on 18 May, saying 46% of the people were interested in the vote while 53% were not.

Meanwhile, the results of a separate Ipsos opinion poll for French daily 20 minutes and Le Point magazine published on Tuesday showed a different picture with regards to the number of people planning to vote.

It said the abstention level in France would be higher than 60 percent and the turnout no higher than 35 to 39 percent – although 45 percent of the French respondents in the TNS poll said they would "definitely vote."

The TNS Opinion survey was conducted from 4 to 15 May in all EU member states but due to legal restrictions on publishing the pre-electoral results in Greece, Italy and Luxembourg, the results for these countries have not been published.


From European election: Brussels braces for big protest vote (Guardian):

The EU's credibility and legitimacy look set to suffer next month when its sole exercise in direct democracy is expected to see voters spurn the ballot boxes in record numbers or vote increasingly for extremists, mavericks and populists.

In what is touted as a festival of freedom and democracy, some 375 million voters in 27 countries are entitled to elect a five-year European parliament in polls held from 4 to 7 June. Around 9,000 candidates are competing for 736 seats.

But the ballot looks more likely to turn into an unruly protest engulfing Europe's elites, producing an angrier parliament more hostile to Brussels. From the UK to Portugal, from Romania to Denmark, fringe parties and extremists are likely to gain seats at the expense of mainstream parties as voters vent their anger over financial meltdown, rising unemployment and perceived corruption among the governing classes.


From Euro-Elections: A Mass Revolt? (Sky News):

The impact of the MPs' expenses scandal may be a very British issue, but across Europe there are signs that people are fed up with their governments for their own particular reasons.

A common thread is the global economic downturn and unemployment, with many voters determined to punish ruling parties for - in their view - either causing it, or mishandling it.

A study by the LSE and Trinity College Dublin suggests that mass-abstention is the bigest threat with a predicted turn out of only 30%. The Guardian reported this week that many other people plan to turn their backs on the big parties in favour of extreme, populist or maverick candidates.


From Abstention Is Feared, Wrangling Runs High (ERT):

With the European Parliament elections being at the gate, political parties in Greece have focused their attention to a campaign against abstention. Government spokesman Evangelos Antonaros stressed that each ballot counts and appeared certain that the overwhelming majority of the citizens will do their duty as always. Interior Minister Prokopis Pavlopoulos called on the citizens to cast their ballots on the 7 June elections. The heads of the euro-ballots also expressed their concern on abstention in a press conference organized by the offices of the European Parliament in Athens. Marietta Giannakou and Giorgos Papakonstantinou also touched on the conditions under which the debate of the political leaders will take place.


From High Abstention Predicted (E-Politik):

The downswing of European Parliament election turnout seems to continue. In a new Eurobarometer survey, held in January and Febuary this year and yet not published, only 34 % of the European citizen declared they intend to vote the new European Parliament between the 4th and the 7th of June this year. This would be the lowest result since the Parliament was first elected in 1979.


From European elections: Abstention will be the rule (Euro Topics):

The most recent parliamentary elections last autumn left many Romanians frustrated because the politicians and parties have failed to keep their promises. Stelian Tanase writes in the daily Adevărul about the connection between national and European elections: "I believe the reason [for the indifference of the voters] is not just that Brussels is so far away; it's also what happened in the last elections. … I detect a certain carelessness in the repetition of the same old techniques that almost everyone recognises. I'm not sure whether the 'promise everyone everything' formula will work this time. … June 7 will basically be a test of how voters react to the tricks of the politicians. Have they learned their lesson from the bluff last autumn or can they forgive and forget this quickly? Abstention will be the rule, but the direction the vote takes will tell us something about the collective short-term memory."