Expatriates at the Polls: An analysis of predictors affecting voter participation in the 2019 EU Elections

Abstract In the wake of the 2024 elections, far-right parties have capitalized on prevailing social and economic grievances to expand their electoral base. These parties raised issues such as immigration, national security, and economic dissatisfaction to appeal to voters seeking drastic changes from the status quo. This paper focuses on expatriates’ voter turnout in the last 2019 European elections and examines whether the turnout of the European elections is influenced by the period expatriates have been living in another EU country. Additionally, this paper aims at testing if expatriates are more inclined to have an extreme political orientation than non-expatriates. Employing several logistic regression models to examine the effects between different types of determinants and turnout and extreme political orientation, this paper aims at testing to what extent the period of residence, perception of the economic situation, trust and European views influence the expatriates’ voters to go to the polls.