Elections for
the European Parliament will be held next May in all EU states. Migration from
outside the community area, with its toxic effects represented by the populist
and nationalistic currents, deviations from the principles of the rule of law,
the EU budget or the Brexit effects will dominate the campaign in many EU
countries. A Eurobarometer survey made
public on Monday sheds light on the expectations of Europeans
for the May 2019 European election and what would motivate them to cast their
vote. The results of the survey show that the presence of a bigger number of
young people and women on the candidate lists and better information on the
current European Union are factors that would prompt European citizens to cast
their vote. It also shows that most EU citizens are worried that disinformation
campaigns, data breaches and cyber attacks will interfere with electoral
processes. Almost two thirds of the respondents voiced concern at the
difficulties encountered by certain categories to exercise their right to vote,
such as the disabled or the elderly, while more than half of them voiced concern
at a potential foreign influence on the election, such as that of criminal
groups or third countries. Romanians are among the most concerned Europeans as
regards the transparency of election campaigns, with the greatest concerns
emerging from their own experience.
In
the three decades of post-communist democracy Romania has been dealing with
attempts to rig the elections, influence the vote, with manipulation or
multiple voting. All these have been reflected in Monday’s Eurobarometer. Almost
two thirds of Romanians – way over the
European average of below 50%- fear that
people who are not entitled to vote will go to the polls or that there will be
people who will cast their vote twice. A similar number of Romanians fear that
people are constrained to vote in a certain way, that elections will be
manipulated via cyber attacks or that votes will be bought and the final
results manipulated. All these make Romanians the most concerned voters in the
EU. The main factors that would persuade Romanians go to the polls are more
young people on the candidate lists, a better information on the EU and its
impact on people’s lives, more women among the candidates and an enhanced
presence of candidates from less represented political groups.
Our research shows that people
are really worried about disinformation. The good thing is that more and more
citizens are critical of the information they are offered, and well aware of
the dark forces that would like to manipulate what they read, think and
ultimately vote for. For the legitimacy of our European democracy it is
essential that citizens use their right to vote. And that’s why we all, EU
institutions and Member States, must protect our elections and bolster our
democracy, Frans Timmermans, First
Vice-President of the European Commission has said.
(Translated by E. Enache)