Finns appear to be more enthusiastic about voting in the upcoming European Union parliamentary elections than they were in 2019, according to a survey from the publishing trade association News Media Finland.
The poll found 55 percent of respondents saying they would definitely cast their ballot in the elections, while even more said they were considering taking part.
However, the association said that even though the survey reflected a ten percent increase in interest compared to the last elections, it is likely that voter turnout will barely reach 50 percent this time around.
In 2019, voter turnout in the EU elections was just 42.7 percent.
Finns over the age of 65 were most certain about their voting plans, according to the survey. Meanwhile, supporters of the Finns Party or Christian Democrats were less likely to be planning to vote.
Important issues
Seventy-nine percent of respondents said the most important criterion for an MEP candidate to secure their vote was a common point of view. At the same time, 38 percent said language skills and an egalitarian attitude towards various segments of the population were important when selecting a candidate.
Supporters of the National Coalition Party placed heavy emphasis on candidates' language skills, education background and previous EU parliamentary experience. However, Finns Party supporters placed less emphasis on those characteristics.
Both Finns Party and NCP supporters placed less emphasis on a candidate's egalitarian attitude towards various segments of the population.
News sources, disinfo concerns
Newspapers and TV news were the most important sources of information about the elections for the majority of respondents. Among those who said they were definitely or considering voting, 62 percent said they sought out news from printed or online newspapers, while 59 percent said they consumed news on TV.
Just one out of four respondents said they would seek out information about the election via social media.
At the same time, 68 percent of respondents said they believed that the amount of deliberately misleading information will increase over the next few years. The respondents also said they perceived efforts by various political parties to distort people's perceptions of the world, society, science and other groups to be a growing threat.
The European Union parliamentary elections will be held on 9 June. Advance voting is from 29 May to 4 June in Finland, and from 29 May to 1 June abroad, according to an official EU election website.
The survey, carried out by Iro Research, queried around 1,000 people in Finland over the age of 18. The poll had a margin of error of 3.2 percentage points in either direction.
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