The importance of participation and the strategic vote

• 1979-2004: a decline in participation

  Since 1979, election after election there has been a continuous decline in participation in the European election.

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  Key

  - 1979: The 9 (Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Denmark, Ireland, UK)
  - 1984: The 10 (The 9 + Greece)
  - 1998 and 1994: The 12 (The 10 + Spain, Portugal)
  - 1999: The 15 (The 12 + Austria, Finland, Sweden)
  - 2004: The 25 (The 15 + Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia et Czech Republic).

  Source: C. Deloy, D. Reynié, Les élections européennes de juin 2004, Paris, Presses universitaires de France, 2005, p.40.

  In 25 years (from 1979 to 2004), the average turn out rate has dropped from 63% in 1979 to 45.7% in 2004, when, for the very first time, less than one voter in two turned out to vote. In each of the 25 Member States, the participation in the European elections is still lower than that recorded in the national elections.

• 1979 - 2004: The growth of the electoral body

  After the enlargements of the European Union, there has been an increase in the number of voters (see the 2 graphs).

  Nearly 185 million European voters were called to ballot in 1979 in comparison with nearly 352 million in 2004.

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  Source: C. Deloy, D. Reynié, Les élections européennes de juin 2004, Paris, Presses universitaires de France, 2005, p.40.