"Aktuaalne kaamera" news told us Friday how experts consider the current European Parliament elections campaign to be sluggish and lack sheen. A week before, my good colleague Tõnis Saarts came to the same conclusion (link in Estonian). The campaign is languid, its start was too late and the entire election is taking place at the wrong time.

I understand where my fellow political scientists are coming from. European Parliament elections are often referred to as second-order elections. This means that they usually have lower voter turnout as European topics feel far away, with only habitual voters turning up to vote. Politically more passive voters usually need to be motivated by domestic issues.

But a second-order election is also one where voters turn out not to support parties' platforms, but to either support or protest the government's actions. And we should be flush in such second-order conflicts right now.

Recent polls suggest people are dissatisfied with the coalition's policy, meaning that the second-order electoral conflict is clearly there. We'll know on June 9 whether the opposition has a credible alternative to offer, and whether voters can tell what bears voting for or against.

The election comes at an opportune time for some parties and at the worst time for others, while this works to make campaigns more exciting, not the other way around.

For those looking for even more entertainment, it is hardly an everyday occurrence when non-parliamentary parties set up outlaw candidates or those who haven't paid their security deposits but are still allowed to campaign based on preliminary legal protection, or when others' advertising videos risk being sued by Eurovision organizers and entries.

I also do not agree that politicians are soaking up the lovely May weather we're having instead of meeting voters. Rather, they rush from one debate to another of which there seems to be a lot more than five years ago. It seems that in addition to the big media houses, every other high school, nonprofit and library is setting up its own debate.

Working on one's tan at this time would also clash with political logic. European Parliament lists total just 78 candidates. This is 12.4 times below Riigikogu elections and 128.5 times below the last local elections. Figuratively speaking, while Jüri Ratas used to try and shake the hands of everyone in Mustamäe, he's now touring the country trying to leave everyone in Estonia holding a pen.

This also means that everyone who made the candidates list bears a lot of responsibility in the eyes of their party, and only Chuck Norris could afford to sit around instead of campaigning.

It is oft said of lawyers that two will have three opinions between them, while we now have a couple of political scientists taking a different view. But we could get together and discuss it among ourselves instead of filling in the media.

My concern is that talk of a boring and featureless campaign will not motivate citizens to rush to the ballot boxes. Voter turnout gains from voters feeling that something is at stake, instead of TV personalities complaining of how lame everything is.

Not that I think experts should lie in a situation like this. Rather, it is a matter of topics. As taxpayers, do we really want election campaigns to be about pizazz and glamour? Besides, were parties spending insane amounts of money on campaigns, we'd soon read from the media how bad everything is yet again.

While the press needs to serve as a watchdog every now and again, other, more socially responsible roles could be considered with elections looming. Complaining about election campaigns works to cool voter enthusiasm rather than boost it.

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