Poorer, younger voters much less likely to vote, polls confirm
A TURNOUT of just 62 per cent is predicted for next week’s referendum on EU membership, prompting concerns that the validity of the result could be questioned.
Concerns have been raised that the turnout in the upcoming EU referendum will be even lower than the last General Election, with polls predicting that 62 per cent will vote on 23 June.
A significant demographic divide has also been highlighted, with younger and poorer voters much less likely to cast their ballot.
The figures, which come from a BMG Research poll, have been called “deeply concerning” by the Electoral Reform Society (ERS) campaign group.
Katie Ghose, ERS Chief Executive, said such a low turnout would risk the result being viewed as inconclusive.
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“The last thing anyone wants to see is a contested and challenged outcome”, Ghose said.
“Instead this is an opportunity to have a decisive result, so the campaigns should be doing everything they can to boost turnout, particularly among those groups that are most ‘switched off’ from the debate so far.”
The BRM poll also found that just 22 per cent felt ‘well’ or ‘very well’ informed. Ghose commented that this is “no surprise”, given what she called “Westminster parlour games and party spats that have dominated the campaign”.
ERS have produced an online tool to help voters “get clued up” before the ballot on 23 June.
Turnout in the UK’s General Election in 2015 was 66 per cent; in the Scottish Parliamentary election earlier this year just 55 per cent voted. The highest turnout in the UK for decades was the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, at 84.6 per cent.
Picture courtesy of Feral78
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