A Quick Look: The European Parliament Elections
- The European elections are the second-largest democratic contest in the world, second only to the Indian elections.
- EU citizens eligible to vote are 427 million.
- The British and Dutch are the first to cast their ballots on Thursday 23 May, through Friday (Irish and Czechs), Saturday (Latvia, Malta, Slovakia, Czechs) to Sunday (everyone else).
- European rules only state that a form of proportional representation has to be used
- Results cannot be announced before the last polling station closes at 11pm Central European Time (CET) in Italy.
- In the last European vote in May 2014, 43 percent, actually took part with Slovakia registering the lowest turnout …13%.
- This vote originally was for the election of 705 European Members of Parliament but due to Brexit with Britain failing to leave the EU yet, it’s going be for 751 MEP. When Brexit does happen, 46 seats will be scrapped and 27 of Britain’s 73 will be reallocated to 14 other states.
- Currently there are eight political groups in the European Parliament but MEPs are expect some reshuffling after the election. A group must have at least 25 members from at least a quarter of member states, i.e. 7 out of 28 at present. This will entitle the parliamentary group, to special funding, a voice in managing the agenda, committee chairs and so on.
- The five-year term that starts on 2 July.
