ABSTRACT
This chapter examines whether resources, such as income and education, contribute to the drop-off in turnout from first to second elections. It expresses that campaign factors such as party and media mobilization, or lack of them, explain the voter drop-off between first and second order elections rather than resources. Therefore, lower voter turnout in second order elections is not likely to exaggerate the socio-economic inequality in the electorate but rather the inequality in political information and engagement. The chapter considers how parties and media mobilize voters in second order elections and the impact this may have on the composition of the electorate. It discusses how resources and the salience of the election retain or mobilize electors in the 2004 European Parliamentary election. In general, the act of turning out to vote in elections has been characterized as a low cost, low benefit activity for most people and for most of the time.
