JUST UNDER HALF of voters found the European election ballot paper difficult to fill in, a new poll has found.
The results from the latest The Journal and Ireland Thinks poll show that 48% of all voters said they found the ballot too long, with younger voters finding it the most cumbersome.
Some 55% of 18-34 year olds said they found it too long, while voters over the age of 65 were the next age cohort to find it most difficult at 50%.
The latest, and final round, of polling from The Journal and Ireland Thinks on this year’s European elections also asked voters about the main issues that motivated them to vote. As well as whether they are now more interested in European politics and what issues they want to see the European Parliament prioritise in its new term.
The poll was conducted between July 4 and 5 with a sample size of 1,465. It has a margin of error of 2.6%.
While it was the youngest and oldest voters who were most likely to say the ballot paper for this year’s European elections was difficult to fill in, a significant number of voters in between these age groups also had issues with the ballot.
Just 2% of voters said they found it difficult to fill in but for a reason other than length. 49% said they didn’t find it difficult while 2% said they were not sure.
Discussions on whether Ireland’s ballot papers are “too confusing” are not a new thing, with politicians long raising different issues around the amount of white space on the page and how parties vs independents are presented (this has since been redesigned as a result).
But this time around, with a record number of 73 candidates having contested a seat in the European Parliament from the three constituencies of Dublin, Midlands North-West, and South, some have argued that the ballot papers were simply too long.
In particular, the Midlands North-West constituency ballot paper with its 27 candidates, clocked in at 28 inches this year, causing logistical problems for count staff.
Meanwhile, looking at what actually got voters out to vote, the poll found that most people based their decision on the individual candidate.
When asked ‘What was the main issue you were motivated by when voting?’, 35% of all voters said it was because they liked the candidate.
The next most popular reason was immigration at 20%, while party loyalty was third at 10%.
Younger voters were the cohort to rank housing the highest in their priorities, with 16% of 18-34 year olds saying it was the main issue that motivated them.
However, liking the candidate and immigration were still the top two motivators among this group, at 25% and 17% respectively.
Younger voters were also the age cohort to be most motivated by climate, with 11% of 18-34 year olds saying this was their number one motivator.
By comparison, 35-44 year olds were the second group most motivated by climate at 6%.
Among those aged 45-64, 4% of voters said climate was the main issue for them, while 5% of over 65s said it was their main issue.
Looking at the main motivators based on the party a voter supports, voters who said housing was their top motivator in the European elections were predominantly Sinn Féin supporters.
Among Sinn Féin voters, housing was also the number one issue at 20%.
The next party to rank housing highest was the Labour Party and the Social Democrats, both at 9%.
Among both Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil voters, liking the candidate was the main issue that motivated them to vote at 49% each.
Among Fine Gael voters, the next biggest motivator was party loyalty at 20% followed by against racism at 8%.
Among Fianna Fáil voters, party loyalty was also the second biggest motivator at 17% while immigration was the third biggest motivator at 12%.
Voters who said Gaza was their main motivator were predominantly People Before Profit-Solidarity voters, at 20%.
Among People Before Profit-Solidarity voters, the main motivators to vote were Liking the candidate and Against racism, both at 24% each. Gaza was the third biggest motivator for these voters at 20%.
Voters who said migration was their main motivator when deciding who to vote for predominantly identified as Aontú voters.
At 60%, migration was the biggest motivator for Aontú voters.
Independents and Others were the second group most motivated by migration at 55%, followed by those who said they were unsure or didn’t vote at 50%.
For Green Party voters, most were motivated by climate at 59% – the highest of any political party. The second biggest motivator for Green Party voters was ‘against racism’ at 16%.
For the Labour Party, most were motivated by liking the candidate at 33%, second to this was party loyalty at 26% followed by climate at 12%.
Similarly, for the Social Democrats, the top motivator was liking the candidate at 33%, followed by against racism at 19% and climate at 14%.
Priorities
When asked to pick two issues the European Parliament should prioritise in the new term, migration was the top issue chosen for all voters at 52%.
This was followed by the economy at 37%, European security at 31%, the climate at 25%, Gaza at 23%, Ukraine at 17% and infrastructure at 12%.
Migration was the top issue selected across all age demographics, all regions and all income brackets.
However, it is not clear from the polling where voters fall on issues relating to migration.
Younger voters, aged 18-34 were the age group most concerned with climate, with 38% of voters in this bracket saying it should be prioritised as an issue by MEPs this term.
Interest in European Parliament
Finally, when asked if voters are more interested now in following what happens in the European Parliament than they were this time last year, 44% said they were more interested.
The majority (51%) said their interest level was about the same.
Some 4% said they were “less interested” and 2% said they were “much less interested”.
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This work is co-funded by Journal Media and a grant programme from the European Parliament. Any opinions or conclusions expressed in this work are the author’s own. The European Parliament has no involvement in nor responsibility for the editorial content published by the project. For more information, see here.
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