Hur uppfattningar om inputlegitimitet påverkar valdeltagandet i valet till Europaparlamentet -En kvantitativ undersökning av det svenska Europaparlamentsvalet 2019

Sammanfattning: Throughout the existence of the European Union, the voter participation in the elections to the European parliament have remained on a comparatively low level. In each member state, participation in these elections have remained on a lower level than in elections to their respective national parliaments, often by a significant margin. This was also the case of the 2019 European parliament elections in Sweden. Although higher than the participation of the 2014 election, the 2019 election saw a 55% turnout, significantly lower than the 87,1% turnout in the 2018 general parliament elections, as well as the 84,2% turnout in the 2022 elections. This is a major problem, since the Union’s role as a common democratic force to represent European interests is based on its ability to represent the interests of its citizens. I suggest that a major aspect regarding the matter of voter turnout is the concept of input legitimacy and the integrity of the elections. The perception that input legitimacy within the EU is limited in some way will likely result in the elections to the European Parliament being considered unfair, thereby limiting the relevance of participation in the elections. An analysis of the effect perceptions of input legitimacy have on voter turnout in the elections to the European parliament appears to support this hypothesis to a strong degree. However, a few other factors appear to show equally or more significant correlations, although perceptions of legitimacy prove to have a significant effect in this context. I suggest that improvements in this regard will increase the voter turnout of the European parliament elections. I conclude that the suggested correlation between perceptions of input legitimacy and voter turnout exists in the elections to the European parliament. I also suggest that a similar connection is likely to occur in other institutions as well.