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

Parliament gets ready for the Lisbon Treaty

Parliament is preparing for the increased powers it is set to receive under the new Lisbon Treaty. more »

Boat sinks in Indian Ocean

Rescue teams searched the Indian Ocean for survivors after a fishing boat carrying at least 40 people sank. more »

Karzai declared Afghan president

Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai's continuation in the post was announced by the country's election commission on Monday. more »

Anniversaries this year: From the Hitler-Stalin Pact to the fall of the Berlin Wall

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact between Hitler and Stalin to split parts of Central and Eastern Europe and the Baltic States between them, but it is also 20 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall. more »

Final political hurdle cleared – road to Lisbon open

“I am pleased to announce that the European Council has this evening agreed to accept the exemption that the President of the Czech Republic has requested in order to be able to ratify the Treaty of Lisbon”, said Fredrik Reinfeldt at the press conference that concluded the first day of the EU summit. more »

Former Nazi officer stands trial

88-year old Heinrich Boere – a former SS soldier - is on the Simon Wiesenthal Center's list of top ten World War Two criminals. more »

French Scientology guilty of fraud

A Paris court has found the Church of Scientology guilty of fraud and fined it 600,000 euros - that's just over 900,000 dollars. Four church leaders in France were also given suspended prison sentences. more »

New German government

The new German government, e.g. party led by Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives, signed a coalition with the Free Democrats Party, started working with strong decisions – they are bringing in 21 billion euros of tax relief in 2010 - and more income tax relief from 2011. more »

China drought worst in decades

With drought across southern, central and eastern China, rivers are falling to historic low levels. more »

Mallorca building collapses

At least four people were killed when a building gave way on the Spanish island in Mallorca. more »