Abstention and EU ignorance will test Portugal's European elections

euronews (in English)

The European elections typically see the lowest turnout among citizens in Portugal. Will the Portuguese follow the trend of the recent legislative elections and participate in voting on June 9th?

Transcript

00:00 In the 2019 European elections, Portugal had its highest abstention rate since joining

00:05 the EU, in contrast to the 50% turnout across Europe.

00:10 From 1987 to 2019, Portugal's voter participation dropped from over 70% to just over 30%.

00:19 Only Croatia, Slovenia, Czech and Slovakia had lower turnouts.

00:26 Political dissatisfaction is a major reason for this.

00:30 Yet lower abstention is expected in the June 9 elections, following a recent positive trend.

00:36 [Portuguese]

00:46 [Portuguese]

01:12 Lack of knowledge about the European Union is another reason for the decision not to vote.

01:16 Less than half of the Portuguese can name a Portuguese MEP or the President of the

01:21 European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.

01:24 [Portuguese]

01:52 The European elections are expected to mirror the national elections and the growth of the right-wing parties.

01:58 [Portuguese]

02:18 Portugal will once again have 21 MEPs, but this time they may have very different political backgrounds.

02:24 [MUSIC PLAYING]

Category

Transcript

Recommended