Voter turnout drops 1.8 mln in 15 years
Low voter turnout in recent years is fueling concerns over a crisis in representative democracy. Relevant figures seen by Kathimerini are indicative of the situation as they highlight an increasing number of citizens since 2004 choosing not to cast a ballot in all elections.
More specifically, figures published in the Greek edition of Kathimerini show that 76% of the electorate voted in the 2004 national elections, which corresponds to 7,573,368 citizens. In 2007 the percentage dropped below 75%, with 7,355,026 citizens going to the polls, while in 2009 the percentage was just over 70%, with 7,044,606 citizens voting.
In 2012, when the financial/political crisis had begun, the turnout rate dropped further to 65%, with 6,476,818 people turning up.
In the by-elections of the same year, it fell to 62.5% and in absolute terms it stood at 6,216,798.
In 2015, the year in which SYRIZA came to power, the rate rose slightly to 64% and 6,330,356 in absolute terms. In the by-elections of September, with the country hanging by a thread, it barely exceeded 55% and 5,567,930 voters in absolute terms.
In 2019, despite the fact that four and a half years of SYRIZA government had passed and a significant social current developed that eventually allowed New Democracy to form a single-party government, the turnout was around 58%, with 5,769,644 voters casting their ballots.
Overall, between 2004 and 2019 the number of voters who went to the polls fell by 1.8 million.
At the same time, the population also declined over the same period, but not to the extent that would justify this large shift. Over the last seven years – i.e. in the last three elections – the average turnout at the polls has been below 60%.
