Election, parties

When choosing whom to vote for in the European election, the electorate is going to attach more importance to opinions on problems in the Czech Republic than to the party or personality of candidates.

The vast majority of those who are going to vote – 8 out of 10 – are persuaded that the party of their choice will get into the European Parliament. 10% of those polled were of the opinion that the party of their choice will not sit in the European Parliament, and the same percentage did not know.

All respondents having the right to vote were asked an open question (i.e. without a list of political parties being used) investigating which party they would vote for if an election to the Chamber of Deputies took place the following week. The structure of the answers given is summarised in the table (in %).

The question ‘Imagine that an election to the Chamber of Deputies is held next week.

All respondents eligible to vote were asked a closed question about which political party they are going to vote for in the European Parliament election. The respondents were shown complete candidate lists of all parties. The total structure of the answers given is summarised in the table.

In May 2004, 63% of Czech citizens expressed willingness to participate in the election to the European Parliament.

Czechs think that their cheap labour force and tourist attractions will be the major contributions to the European Union. Only a fraction of the population said that our traditions, moral values, religion, quality industrial products or quality agricultural products could be a contribution to the EU. In comparison, Slovaks put a considerable emphasis on their hard work and diligence, Poles accentuate their traditions, moral values, religion and quality agricultural products, while Hungarians take more pride, than Czechs, in their culture and arts, hard work, diligence, science and technical development.

All respondents having the right to vote were asked an open question (i.e. without a list of political parties being used) investigating which party they would vote for if an election to the Chamber of Deputies took place the following week. The structure of the answers given is summarised in the table.

The question ‘Imagine that an election to the Chamber of Deputies is held next week. Would you participate?’ was answered yes by 64% of those surveyed having the right to vote (‘definitely yes’ by 28% and ‘probably yes’ by 36%), while 27% said no (13% ‘probably not’ and 14% ‘definitely not’) and 9% did not know.

In March 2004, 61% of Czech citizens expressed willingness to participate in the election to the European Parliament. On the other hand, over a quarter of the Czech electorate (28%) did not want to vote. The remaining 11% of respondents were still undecided. However, the real turnout tends to be lower than that revealed in polls. In respect of the election to the European Parliament, party preferences more or less copy the March popularity of individual parties in connection with the election to the Chamber of Deputies.

All respondents having the right to vote were asked an open question (i.e. without a list of political parties being used) investigating which party they would vote for if an election to the Chamber of Deputies took place the following week. The structure of the answers given is summarised in the table.

The question ‘Imagine that an election to the Chamber of Deputies is held next week. Would you participate?’ was answered yes by 68% of those surveyed having the right to vote (‘definitely yes’ by 31% and ‘probably yes’ by 37%), while 25% said no (13% ‘probably not’ and 12% ‘definitely not’) and 7% did not know.

In a February survey of the Public Opinion Research Centre, Czech citizens presented their opinions on, inter alia, the election to the European Parliament. Respondents were first asked whether they wanted to participate in the election.

In February 2004, 60% of Czech citizens expressed willingness to participate in the election to the European Parliament. On the other hand, a quarter of Czech voters (26%) did not want to vote.

All respondents having the right to vote were asked an open question (i.e. without a list of political parties being used) investigating which party they would vote for if an election to the Chamber of Deputies took place the following week. The structure of the answers given is summarised in the table.

The question ‘Imagine that an election to the Chamber of Deputies is held next week. Would you participate?’ was answered yes by 66% of those surveyed having the right to vote (‘definitely yes’ by 28% and ‘probably yes’ by 38%), while 26% said no (15% ‘probably not’ and 11% ‘definitely not’) and 8% did not know.

Those polled who preferred or sympathised with a particular political party were, as part of our January survey, asked a repeated question examining the intensity of the relation with this political party.

Only 12% of voters called themselves staunch party supporters. Almost every third voter (32%) now prefers a particular political party just because it annoys them the least (i.e. there is no party that the voter would ‘like’).