Record Low Turnout At European Parliament Elections In Croatia

Croats were not too bothered turning out to vote on the nations EU accession referendum back in 2012 when only 44% of the countries eligible voters turned up to vote, but there was even less interest on Sunday when the nation went to the polls for its first-ever European Parliament elections.

Only 20% of eligible voters went to the booths on Sunday in Croatia to elect 12 MEP’s who will represent Croatia in Brussles for the next 12 months. Voters for the first time in Croatia were able to vote for individual candidates instead of party lists, a system which is also expected to be applied to local elections in future in Croatia, but it did not make much difference to the turn-out.

“Those MEP’s will be on 8,000 euros a month to just sit there as Croatia will have no say or influence in that European Parliament. I am not voting to encourage these career politicians who are just looking after their own interests,” said one non-voter, pensioner Ivanka Horvat.

“There was a very low turn out to the polls which no doubt will be talked about these days and we need to figure out why people stayed away. To those voters who voted – thank you, and to those who did not vote that is there right and I invite them to vote next time,” said Prime Minster Zoran Milanovic on Sunday.