As of: March 26, 2024, 10:13 a.m
By: Ulrike Hagen
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The low voter turnout in the European elections is well known - it will be a decisive factor again in 2024.
Brussels - The European elections are taking place from June 6th to 9th, 2024, the citizens of the European Union (EU) are encouraged to vote for the European Parliament for the tenth time.
In Germany this will be on Sunday, June 9, 2024.
The European elections are considered a secondary election - interest and voter turnout are traditionally moderate.
The focus is therefore on motivating voters to cast their votes in the first place.
This worked well in 2019, and experts are now hoping for a continuation of the trend, with participation being an important way to “protect and support democracy.”
Low voter turnout in the European elections: A problem with tradition
The election campaign is already in full swing, but the question is whether Europeans will go to the polling stations in relevant numbers, reports the US daily
Politico
with a view to the European elections.
“The 2019 election was a turning point,” said Philipp Schulmeister, Director of Campaigns in the European Parliament, hopefully, “it was the start of a change that I expect to continue in 2024.”
The European elections will take place from June 6th to 9th, 2024.
© Jean-Francois Badias/AP/dpa
In the last elections, 50.7 percent of eligible voters cast their votes, which was the highest turnout in over two decades.
If 2019 actually marked the beginning of a new era of voter participation in Europe, this would be a historic turning point.
However, scientists are cautious.
There was a historic voter turnout in the last European elections in 2019.
50.7 percent of those eligible to vote cast their votes.
© European Parliament in collaboration with Kantar
Reasons for low voter turnout: Lack of trust and interest in politics
“The 'surge' in voter turnout in 2019 - as it has often been portrayed - needs to be largely dampened,” explains Camille Kelbel, associate professor of political science at the Catholic University of Lille.
She points out that voter turnout has fallen in eight countries and that some of the biggest increases have occurred in countries such as Poland and Slovakia, where voter turnout is traditionally very low.
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The tasks of the EU Parliament have increased, but many still believe that the vote does not count: “Citizens, political parties and the media consider the European elections to be less important than other election campaigns,” said Kelbel.
“There is ... less at stake, so there is less reason to vote.”
According to the Eurobarometer, the main reason given for not taking part in the 2019 European elections was “lack of trust in politics”, followed by “lack of interest in politics” and the feeling that the vote would make no difference.
In the last European elections in 2019, 61.38 percent of those eligible to vote in Germany cast their votes, which was the third highest turnout in Europe.
© European Parliament in collaboration with Kantar
European elections 2024: Germans have little interest – especially among conservatives
In fact, Germans' interest in the 2024 European elections appears to be low - especially among conservatives.
A survey by the opinion research institute Civey on behalf of the Heinrich Böll Foundation and the Progressive Center Berlin showed: Of the CDU/CSU supporters surveyed, 22 percent said that they had little or rather little interest in the European elections.
Paradox: according to current surveys, the Union will still be the strongest force in the 2024 European elections and will therefore hold most of the 96 seats occupied by Germany out of the total 720 seats in parliament.
“Way to protect and support democracy”: Politicians appeal to take part in the election
EU campaign manager Schulmeister admits that greater efforts need to be made to reach voters “who have internal hurdles...those who know the European elections are important but have a million reasons not to vote on election day. He emphasizes the importance of working with “professional associations, civil society organizations, private and public groups” to communicate about the elections.
Schulmeister emphasized the importance of the June vote as a crucial issue for the future of democracy in the EU and beyond: "Democratic processes are under threat, and that is also the case on our continent," he said.
“Participating in these elections is our way to protect and support democracy.”
Voting age for EU elections in 2024 lowered to 16 for the first time
Older voters are significantly more likely to vote than younger voters - although the gap narrowed significantly in 2019.
The European Parliament's Eurobarometer analysis found that the increase in voting among young people helped push turnout above the 50 percent threshold.
So we can only hope that the appeal reaches a large number of first-time voters: This year, the voting age in the European elections was reduced to 16 years across the EU.
Not only German citizens can cast their vote in Germany, but also all people living here with a passport from any other EU member state.