EP elections - slight decline in turnout

Published: 9 June 2009 y., Tuesday

Parlamento rinkimai Lenkijoje
Provisional turnout figures for the election are set at 42.94%, according to the TNS Polling agency. This is around the same level as 2004, with only a slight decrease by 1.55%. In 2004 the amalgamated turnout of the 25 Member States was 44.40 %. Since then, Romania and Bulgaria have subsequently joined the Union.

Out of the 376 million EU citizens eligible to vote, 162 million people voted.
 
Turnout varied per country, some having a higher turnout than in 2004 and others with a decrease. The biggest turnouts were in Luxembourg with 91%, Belgium 90.3%, (where voting is compulsory) and Malta with 78.8%. In the UK the turnout was 34.27% and in the Republic of Ireland 57.6%. 
 
The biggest increase in turnout occurred in some of the smaller Member States.
 
Speaking after the poll the President of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Pöttering, said that: “MEPs and the media need to work together - they are responsible politically. We must ensure continuous reporting of the EP's work in coming years and I am sure the turnout will be better in 2014.”
 
Mr Pöttering compared the turnout with the US mid-term elections for the House of Representatives where the turnout is almost always below 50%.

Šaltinis: europarl.europa.eu
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.

Facebook Comments

New comment


Captcha

Associated articles

The most popular articles

Grim reality of North Korea's assault on human rights

Hunger and fear are a part of the daily lives of North Korea's 23 million people. Living in a State with one of the worst human rights records in the world is harsh for its people. more »

Kyrgyzstan at a crossroads, says MEP Paolo Bartolozzi

The 2005 “Tulip revolution” in Kyrgyzstan raised big hopes for democratic change in Central Asia, but bloodshed and violence shook the former Soviet republic when opposition leaders led by former Foreign Minister Roza Otunbayeva seized power on Wednesday. more »

Death of Polish President Lech Kaczyński: statement by President Jerzy Buzek

This is an unimaginable catastrophe in Europe. Europe has encountered a great loss. Poland is living through an indescribable tragedy. more »

Kaczynski's coffin returns home

Polish President Lech Kaczynski's coffin returned home to a stunned nation Sunday, a day after he and much of the country's political and military elite perished in a plane crash in Russia that killed 97 people. more »

EU and USA look at how to improve counter-terrorism database exchange agreements

These are two basic agreements in the information exchange system for combating international terrorism which will be the focal point of the ministerial meeting between the EU and the USA, to be held this Friday at the El Pardo Palace, in the outskirts of Madrid. more »

South Caucasus: EU must play greater role in stabilising the region, say MEPs

The EU must steer a strategy for stability, prosperity and conflict-resolution in the South Caucasus, MEPs insist in a draft resolution adopted by the Foreign Affairs committee on Thursday. more »

MEPs scrutinise summit solutions to euro-zone's hardship

European Council President Herman Van Rompuy found MEPs in trenchant mood Wednesday when he reported back to them on the conclusions reached by European leaders at their summit last month. more »

Obama limits use of nukes

The Obama administration unveiled a new nuclear policy Tuesday that restricts America’s use of nuclear weapons, reduces the country’s reliance on its nuclear deterrent and renounces America’s development of new atomic weapons. more »

Earthquake hits Indonesia

A 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Aceh on the Indonesian island of Sumatra early Wednesday morning. more »

Rio cleans up as rain continues

The death toll in the state of Rio de Janeiro rose to 89 on Tuesday as workers struggled to clean up the mess created by 15 hours of heavy rain. more »