Poll: Nearly half of voters find it hard to choose candidate for European elections
Candidate takes precedence over party for two thirds
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A clear majority of Finns want to give support to a specific candidate in the elections for the European Parliament. Nearly half of respondents to a poll commissioned by Helsingin Sanomat and conducted by Suomen Gallup say that finding the right candidate causes them considerable problems.
The survey on attitudes among Finns toward the European elections, was conducted in early May.
Voters’ decisions appear to hinge more on the candidate than the party. Two thirds wanted to give their support to a specific person. About a half felt that the party was important.
Supporters of the National Coalition Party and the Left Alliance were most likely to place party first over personality, whereas supporters of the True Finns and smaller parties tended to emphasise personality.
Choosing a candidate seems most difficult for young voters, and for supporters of the Social Democrats and the Left Alliance.
Supporters of the National Coalition Party and the True Finns seem to find it easier to choose a candidate – True Finns supporters are mainly pondering whether or not to vote at all.
Respondents were asked to agree or disagree with the statement that it is worth voting in these elections because of the good candidates running.
About half of all respondents agreed with the statement.
Thirty-two per cent of supporters of the Left Alliance and 35 per cent of supporters of the True Finns agreed with the statement. Suomen Gallup believes that supporters of the populist True Finns are content with just one pleasing candidate.
The poll sets the voter turnout at 38 per cent.
The survey also separately identified another group – those who have made a conscious decision not to vote.
The deliberate non-voters include a fairly high proportion of manual workers, students, those with a low level of education, those under the age of 50, and supporters of the Social Democratic Party and the True Finns.
The most common reasons for not voting include having better things to do on election day, feeling that there are not sufficient reasons to vote in the election, and a lack of interest in the EU and the European Parliament.
For one third of conscious non-voters, the move was seen as a protest against either the European Union or the Finnish government.
Helsingin Sanomat
