Explaining vote switching to niche parties in the 2009 European Parliament elections

Abstract

Assuming that the electoral success of niche parties in EP elections is largely due to the vote switching in EP elections, this study seeks to explore the motivations leading mainstream party supporters to switch to niche parties in EP elections ( niche switching voters). From the results of analyses, some important findings could be drawn. First, for niche switching voters, the ‘protest voting’ motivation is very important motive. In particular, they are strongly driven by their profound distrust in mainstream politics in switching to niche parties. Second, unlike the existing literature, European considerations matter in their voting behavior. Third, vote choice based on the niche issues also has important effect on their voting behavior. This demonstrates clearly that, niche switching voters are different from other switching voters.