Europe Elects
European election watchdog
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Europe Elects is a political intelligence platform and poll aggregator.[4]
| |
Type of site | Data journalism |
|---|---|
| Available in | English |
| Headquarters | Oberroßbach, Germany |
| Area served | Europe |
| Founder | Tobias Gerhard Schminke[1][2] |
| Editor | Julius Lehtinen[3] |
| Key people | Jakub Rogowiecki (Executive Project Manager) |
| Industry | |
| URL | europeelects |
| Registration | October 2019 |
| Launched | May 2014 |
| Current status | Active |
History and activities
Europe Elects, initially founded as a Twitter account in 2014, pioneered linking national voting intentions to European Parliament party groups.[5][6]
Since then, Europe Elects has expanded into a data and media project that aggregates opinion polls and election results from all independent European states.[7] The organization has published monthly European Parliament seat projections since 2014, making it one of the longest-running and most consistent sources for such projections.[6][8]
Democracy Watchdog
Europe Elects reported statistical anomalies – typically associated with electoral fraud – in the 2024 Georgian parliamentary election[9] and the 2025 Georgian local elections. Kakha Kaladze, Secretary General of the governing Georgian Dream party, rejected the allegations of falsification.
A November 2025 report by the Georgian Electoral Commission accused Europe Elects of spreading misinformation about the elections. The report also criticized President Salomé Zourabichvili – a prominent critic of the government – as well as opposition parties and independent media for their commentary on the electoral process.[10] The Georgian Dream government has, in recent years, faced criticism for increasing authoritarian tendencies and weaponizing state institutions against political opponents.[11][12]
In previous years, Europe Elects has republished analyses from election-monitoring organizations operating in authoritarian contexts, such as the now-defunct Russia-based Golos.[13]
The platform provides a list of European polling firms engaged in political polling, highlighting their past performance and potential conflicts of interest.[14][15]
Spread and perception
Europe Elects is considered a major media source concerning the European Parliament and electoral analysis in Europe.[16][17] According to an analysis by Bayerischer Rundfunk, Europe Elects was the most-cited Twitter account reporting on the European Parliament election, beating established media such as the BBC or Le Monde.[18] It is quoted frequently in both European[19][20][21][22] and worldwide publications,[23][24][25] is referenced by the Centre for European Policy Studies,[26][27] and is listed in the database of the European Data Journalism Network, a consortium of media and journalists promoting data-driven multilingual coverage of European topics.[28][29]
In 2019, Euronews published Europe Elects European Parliament projections.[30] In 2021, Europe Elects collaborated with Euractiv[31] and Decision Desk HQ.[32]
In 2024, Süddeutsche Zeitung described the project as having "changed Europe's democracy to some extent."[33]
Awards
In 2022, Europe Elects was awarded the Dalhousie Impact Award.[34] In 2024, Europe Elects received a grant from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation to fight misinformation and disinformation relating to political polls in Europe.[35]