Average Voter Turnout in EU Over 50 percent, Slovakia Bottom Again

Average Voter Turnout in EU Over 50 percent, Slovakia Bottom Again

Bratislava/Brussels, May 27 (TASR) – The average voter turnout in the European Parliament elections across the European Union was 50.82 percent, with the lowest figure (22.74 percent) being reported by Slovakia once again, according to results published by the European Parliament on its website.

Conversely, Belgium recorded the highest voter turnout (88.74 percent) among EU countries, although voting in Belgium is mandatory, as is the case in Luxembourg (84.10 percent), Greece (58.34 percent), Cyprus (44.99 percent) and Bulgaria (30.83 percent). Malta (72.70 percent) posted the highest voter turnout among countries where voting isn’t mandatory.

Although Slovakia was bottom among all EU countries again this year, its EP-election turnout exceeded 20 percent for the first time in the country’s history.

The average voter turnout across the EU in the previous EP elections in May 2014 was 42.54 percent. Like this year, the lowest figure was reported in Slovakia (13.1 percent) and the highest (almost 90 percent) in Belgium.

In 2009, Slovakia reported voter turnout standing at 19.64 percent, while the figure was 16.97 percent in the first EP elections to take place in the country in 2004.

Slovaks elected 14 MEPs in Saturday’s EP elections. They are: Milan Simecka, Vladimir Bilcik, Michal Wiezik, Martin Hojsik (PS-Together), Monika Benova, Miroslav Ciz, Robert Hajsel (Smer-SD), Milan Uhrik, Miroslav Radacovsky (LSNS), Ivan Stefanec, Miriam Lexmann (KDH), Lucia Duris Nicholsonova, Eugen Jurzyca (SaS) and Peter Pollak (OLaNO). Lexmann will be sworn in only if Great Britain leaves the EU.