WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Bucking the nearly Europe-wide trend toward higher turnout in the European Parliament elections this weekend, and despite compulsory voting, most Bulgarian voters stayed home.
The low 31% turnout estimated by the Central Electoral Commission reflects the lack of faith that Bulgarians have in the honesty of their elections. Just 11% of Bulgarians expressed confidence in the honesty of their elections in 2018, which is not only the lowest confidence level in the European Union, but also one of the lowest levels in the entire world.
Bulgarians don't place much faith in their elections, and they don't think much of their scandal-plagued national government either. The 22% of Bulgarians who express confidence in their national government is also one of the lowest levels in the EU; only Greece scores worse (16%). And the 80% of Bulgarians who say corruption is widespread in their government is one of the highest in the EU.
Still, despite being embroiled in corruption scandals that some polls predicted would cost the ruling party of Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov the election, his party won with 30.6% of the votes. However, this result may more reflect Bulgarians' greater fondness for the EU (48% of Bulgarians approve of the EU's leadership) and the pro-European tone that Borisov's party adopted during the campaign than their own leadership.
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