The results of the 2015 election for the parliament of Hamburg are not socially representative, according to a recent study conducted by the Bertelsmann Stiftung. A disproportionate share of the more than 560,000 eligible voters who opted not to cast their ballots in the election held last Sunday come from socially disadvantaged milieus.
The new election analysis confirms a result of earlier Bertelsmann Stiftung studies: The more precarious the social situation of a neighborhood, the fewer people from it go to the polls. When compared with the districts with the highest voter-turnout rates, almost 36 times as many households in Hamburg's non-voter strongholds belong to socially weaker milieus. And five times as many jobless individuals and twice as school dropouts are also living there.