2014 European Elections: Profile of voters and non-voters

Studie 02-06-2015

A few months after the 2014 European elections, the time has come to examine in depth the reasons for participation and abstention in the contest. The Directorate-General for Communication in the European Parliament has commissioned desk research to analyse the electoral behaviour of voters and non-voters, in order to better understand the reasons underlying their decision either to vote or abstain, and to analyse their attitudes and opinions regarding the EU. This document is based on a post-election survey of more than 27,000 Europeans over the age of 18 (16 in Austria), carried out by TNS Opinion a few days after the vote, between 30 May and 27 June 2014.  It is divided in three parts: the desk research on voters and non-voters, and two series of factsheets per EU Member State, one dedicated to voters and another to non-voters. For Belgium, Luxembourg (compulsory vote for both countries) and Malta (high level of turnout), a factsheet on non-voters is not provided, given the low number of non-voters. ***This document is available in all EU official languages in the Eurobarometer page of Europarl.