Elections to the European Parliament take place every five years by universal adult suffrage; with more than 400 million people eligible to vote, they are the second largest democratic elections in the world after India's.[1]
Until 2019, 751 MEPs[2] were elected to the European Parliament, which has been directly elected since 1979. Since the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU in 2020, the number of MEPs, including the president, has been 705.[3] No other EU institution is directly elected, with the Council of the European Union and the European Council being only indirectly legitimated through national elections.[4] While European political parties have the right to campaign EU-wide for the European elections,[5] campaigns still take place through national election campaigns, advertising national delegates from national parties.
The election days are 4 consecutive days, from Thursday to Sunday, between April 7th and July 10th.[6][7] The latest election took place in 2024 and the next election will take place in 2029.
The allocation of seats to each member state is based on the principle of degressive proportionality, so that, while the size of the population of each country is taken into account, smaller states elect more MEPs than is proportional to their populations. As the numbers of MEPs to be elected by each country have arisen from treaty negotiations, there is no precise formula for the apportionment of seats among member states. No change in this configuration can occur without the unanimous consent of all governments.[8][9]
There is no uniform voting system for the election of MEPs; rather, each member state is free to choose its own system, subject to certain restrictions:[8]
The electoral area may be subdivided if this will not generally affect the proportional nature of the electoral system.[11]
The electoral threshold, if there is any, may not exceed 5%. From the 2024 election there might be a minimum threshold of between 2% and 5% for constituencies with more than 35 seats, if the Council Decision (EU, Euratom) 2018/994 of 13 July 2018 is approved by all EU states in accordance with their respective constitutional requirements.[12][13]
Voting difference by country
Most of the member states of the European Union elect their MEPs with a single constituency covering the entire state, using party-list proportional representation. There is however a great variety of electoral procedures: some countries use a highest averages method of proportional representation, some use the largest remainder method, some open lists and others closed. In addition, the method of calculating the quota and the election threshold vary from country to country. Countries with multiple constituencies are:
The United Kingdom, historically up until its exit from the Union, was split into constituencies representing Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and each of the regions of England. Northern Ireland used the single transferable vote while the other constituencies used party lists. Before 1999, England, Scotland and Wales used first-past-the-post.
Germany, Italy and Poland use a different system, whereby parties are awarded seats based on their nationwide vote as in all of the states that elect members from a single constituency; these seats are given to the candidates on regional lists. With the number of seats for each party known, these are given to the candidates on the regional lists based on the number of votes from each region towards the party's nationwide total, awarded proportionally to the regions. These subdivisions are not strictly constituencies, as they do not affect how many seats each party is awarded, but are districts that the members represent once elected. The number of members for each region is decided dynamically after the election, and depends on voter turnout in each region. A region with high turnout will result in more votes for the parties there, which will result in a greater number of MEPs elected for that region.[14]
The European Union has a multi-party system involving a number of ideologically diverse Europarties. As no one Europarty has ever gained power alone, their affiliated parliamentary groups must work with each other to pass legislation. Since no pan-European government is formed as a result of the European elections, long-term coalitions have never occurred.
Europarties have the exclusive right to campaign for the European elections; their parliamentary groups are strictly forbidden to campaign and to spend funds on any campaign-related activity. Campaign activities differ per country since national elections for European Parliament representatives are governed by national laws. For instance, a European party can buy unlimited advertising airtime in Estonia while it is barred from any form of paid advertising in Sweden.[15]
For the 2014 EP election, Europarties decided to put forward a candidate for President of the European Commission. Each candidate led the pan-European campaign of the Europarty. While no legal obligation exists to force the European Council to propose the candidate of the strongest party to the EP, it was assumed that the council would have no other choice than to accept the voters' decision. Therefore, following the victory of the European People's Party in the 2014 EP election, its lead candidate Jean-Claude Juncker[16] was elected President of the European Commission.
A 1980 analysis by Karlheinz Reif and Hermann Schmitt concluded that European elections were fought on national issues and used by voters to punish their governments mid-term, making European Parliament elections de facto national elections of second rank.[18] This phenomenon is also referred to by some experts as the "punishment traps", wherein voters use the European Parliament elections and other European integration referendums as punishment for governments on account of bad economic performance.[19] There is also a study that showed how voters tend to choose candidates of a party at the European level if it has a history of advancing specific issues that they care about.[20] This is related to the second theory that explains voter behavior and it involves the so-called attitude voting in which voters are assumed to be acting on the basis of their attitude towards the European integration.[19] This is analogous to the American two-party system in the sense that voting on issues and legislation in the Parliament only requires a yes or no vote, which means voters vote for options or candidates that are close to their ideals.
Turnout had constantly fallen in every EU election from 1979 until 2014. The 2019 election, however, saw turnout increase to its highest level since 1994, at 51%. In 2009, the overall turnout was at 43%, down from 45.5% in 2004. In Britain the turnout was just 34.3%, down from 38% in 2004. Despite falling below 50% between 1999 and 2014, turnout was not as low as that of the US Midterm elections, which usually falls below 40%. However, the comparison with the US voter turnout is hampered due to the fact that the US president is elected in separate and direct elections (presidential system), whereas the President of the European Commission is elected by the European Parliament (parliamentary system), giving the European Parliament elections considerable weight. Some, such as former President of the European Parliament, Pat Cox, have also noted that turnout in the 1999 election was higher than the previous US presidential election.[21][22] German MEP Jo Leinen has suggested that EU parties name their top candidate for the position of President of the European Commission in order to increase turnout.[23][24][25] This happened for the 2014 election, with EPP candidate Jean Claude Juncker ultimately selected, after the EPP won the most seats overall.
The final report of the Conference on the Future of Europe includes more than 320 proposed measures to reform the European Union.[34] It proposes amending EU electoral law to harmonise electoral conditions (voting age, election date, requirements for electoral districts, candidates, political parties and their financing) for the European Parliament elections, as well as moving towards voting for Union-wide lists, or 'transnational lists', with candidates from multiple member states. It also recommends facilitating digital voting possibilities and guaranteeing effective voting rights for persons with disabilities. The report states that European citizens should have a greater say on who is elected President of the European Commission, suggesting this could be achieved either by the direct election of the Commission President or by a lead candidate system.[35]
The third Delors Commission had a short mandate, to bring the terms of the Commission in line with that of the Parliament. Under the European Constitution the European Council would have to take into account the results of the latest European elections and, furthermore, the Parliament would ceremonially "elect", rather than simply approve, the council's proposed candidate. This was taken as the parliament's cue to have its parties run with candidates for the President of the European Commission with the candidate of the winning party being proposed by the council.[36]
This was partly put into practice in 2004 when the European Council selected a candidate from the political party that won that year's election. However at that time only one party had run with a specific candidate: the European Green Party, who had the first true pan-European political party with a common campaign,[37] put forward Daniel Cohn-Bendit.[36] However the fractious nature of the other political parties led to no other candidates, the People's Party only mentioned four or five people they'd like to be president.[38] The Constitution failed ratification but these amendments have been carried over to the Treaty of Lisbon, which came into force in 2009.
There are plans to strengthen the European political parties[25] in order for them to propose candidates for the 2009 election.[24][39] The European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party have already indicated, in their October 2007 congress, their intention for forward a candidate for the post as part of a common campaign.[40] They failed to do so however the European People's Party did select Barroso as their candidate and, as the largest party, Barroso's term was renewed. The Socialists, disappointed at the 2009 election, agreed to put forward a candidate for Commission President at all subsequent elections. There is a campaign within that party to have open primaries for said candidate.[41]
In February 2008, President Barroso admitted there was a problem in legitimacy and that, despite having the same legitimacy as Prime Ministers in theory, in practice it was not the case. The low turnout creates a problem for the President's legitimacy, with the lack of a "European political sphere", but analysis claim that if citizens were voting for a list of candidates for the post of president, turn out would be much higher than that seen in recent years.[42]
The President of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek proposed in 2010 that Commissioners be directly elected, by member states placing their candidate at the top of their voting lists in European elections. That would give them individually, and the body as a whole, a democratic mandate.[43]
Eligibility
Logo and slogan of the European Parliament election 2014: Act. React. Impact.
Each Member State has different rules determining who can vote for and run as the European Parliamentary candidates. In Spain v United Kingdom, the European Court of Justice held that member states are permitted to extend the franchise to non-EU citizens.[44]
Every EU citizen residing in an EU country of which they are not a national has the right to vote and to stand as a candidate in European Parliamentary elections in their country of residence, under the same conditions as nationals of that country – this right is enshrined in Article 39 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. In addition, the right to vote is included in Articles 20(1) and 22(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. To this extent all EU countries keep electoral registers containing the names of all eligible voters in the specific region, to which eligible newcomers to the area can apply at any time to have their names added. EU citizens are then eligible to vote for the duration of their stay in that country.
It is therefore possible for a person to have the choice of voting in more than one EU member state. For example, a Portuguese citizen who studies at university in France and lives at home outside term-time in the family home in the Netherlands has the option of voting in the European Parliamentary election in France, Portugal or the Netherlands. In this scenario, although the Portuguese citizen qualifies to vote in three EU member states, they are only permitted to cast one vote in one of the member states.
Minimum age to vote in European elections by country
18
17
16*
*Belgium and Germany lowered the voting age to 16 for the next European elections.
Member state
Eligible voters
Eligible candidates
Austria
Austrian citizens who are aged 16 or over on polling day and resident in Austria.
Austrian citizens who are aged 16 or over on polling day, resident abroad, and have submitted a notification to be listed in the electoral register of the Austrian commune they were a resident of.
European Union citizens aged 16 or over, resident in Austria, and have submitted a notification to be listed in the electoral register of the Austrian commune they are a resident of.
Same as on the left; the passive voting age is 18 instead of 16.[47]
Belgium
Belgian citizens aged 18 or over on polling day resident in Belgium and entered in the population register of a Belgian commune.[48]
Belgian citizens aged 18 or over on polling day resident outside Belgium, who have sent an application to vote to the Belgian diplomatic or consular post in their country of residence up to 16 days before polling day.
European Union citizens resident in Belgium, aged 18 or over on polling day, entered in the population register or in the foreigners' register of their commune of residence and enrolled in the electoral register.[49]
Voting is compulsory and failing to vote can lead to a fine of up to €137.50.[50]
European Union citizens aged 21 or over on polling day who speak French, Dutch or German.[51]
Bulgaria
Bulgarian citizens who have attained the age of 18 years by polling day, have resided in the Republic of Bulgaria or in another Member State of the European Union at least 60 days during the last three months, are not interdicted and do not serve a custodial sentence[52]
Each national of a Member State of the European Union, who is not a Bulgarian citizen, shall have the right to elect Members of the European Parliament for the Republic of Bulgaria if the said person has attained the age of 18 years by polling day, is not interdicted, does not serve a custodial sentence, has a certificate for residence status in the Republic of Bulgaria, has resided in the Republic of Bulgaria or in another Member State of the European Union at least 60 days during the last three months, is not deprived of the right to elect in the Member State of which the person is a national, and has stated in advance, by a declaration in writing, the desire thereof to exercise his or her right to vote within the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria.[52]
Bulgarian citizen who has attained the age of 21 years by polling day, does not hold the citizenship of any State that is not a Member State of the European Union, is not interdicted, does not serve a custodial sentence, has a permanent address in the Republic of Bulgaria, and has resided in the Republic of Bulgaria or in another Member State of the European Union at least during the last six months.[53]
Any national of a Member State of the European Union, who is not a Bulgarian citizen, has attained the age of 21 years by polling day, does not hold the citizenship of any State that is not a Member State of the European Union, is not interdicted, does not serve a custodial sentence, is not deprived of the right to be elected in the Member State of which the person is a national, enjoys a durable or permanent residence status for the Republic of Bulgaria, has resided in the Republic of Bulgaria or in another Member State of the European Union at least during the last six months, and has stated, by a declaration in writing, the desire thereof to be elected.[54]
European Union citizens resident in Croatia enrolled in the electoral register at least 30 days before the election.[55]
European Union citizens resident in Croatia enrolled in the electoral register at least 30 days before the election.[56]
Cyprus
Czech Republic
European Union citizens aged 18 or over on polling day who are registered in the register of citizens for at least 45 days before polling day, unless a statutory limitation is imposed for reasons of protection of health or withdrawal or legal capacity.[57]
European Union citizens
Denmark
Danish citizens aged 18 or over on polling day who are resident in Denmark or another EU member state, unless deprived of legal capacity.
European Union citizens aged 18 or over on polling day and resident in Denmark, unless deprived of legal capacity.[58]
European Union citizens eligible to vote, unless they have been convicted of an action that in the public opinion makes them unworthy of being a member of the European Parliament.
Estonia
European Union citizens aged 18 or over on polling day and whose address is entered in the population register. A person who has been divested of their active legal capacity with regard to the right to vote and a person who has been convicted of a crime and is serving sentence in a penal institution, cannot vote.[59]
European Union citizens at least 21 years of age and satisfying the requirements of the right to cast a vote, except members of the Defence Forces.
Finland
Every Finnish citizen aged 18 or over on polling day, regardless of domicile.
European Union citizens aged 18 or over on polling day and who are enrolled on the voting register in Finland and whose municipality of residence, as defined by law, is in Finland on the 51st day before election day, unless they have lost the right to vote in the Member State whose citizen they are.[60]
Finnish citizens entitled to vote and not legally incompetent.
European Union citizens who are entitled to vote, registered with and entered into the voting register in Finland and not lost the right to stand as a candidate in elections in their home state.[61]
France
French citizens aged 18 or over on polling day resident in France and enrolled in the electoral register.
French citizens aged 18 or over on polling day resident outside France and entered either in the consular register of electors (la liste électorale consulaire) or in the register of a municipality with which they are related (place of birth, last residence in France, municipality of one of forebears, spouse or relatives, municipality where they own a residence or pay local taxes) .[62]
European Union citizens resident in France, aged 18 or over on polling day and enrolled in the electoral register.[63]
European Union citizens aged 23 or over.
Germany
European Union citizens aged 18 or over on polling day resident in Germany, if they are resident in member states of the European Union for at least three months.
Additionally, German citizens aged 18 or over who have lived in Germany for at least three consecutive months within the last 25 years when they were at least aged 14.
European Union citizens aged 18 or over.
Greece
Greek citizens aged 17 or over on the last day of the year the election happens who are resident in Greece and registered in the electoral roll in a Greek municipality or community, unless deprived of legal capacity.[64]
Greek citizens aged 17 or over on the last day of the year the election happens who are resident in another EU member state, registered in the electoral roll in a Greek municipality or community and have submitted an application to vote overseas to the Greek embassy or consulate in their country of residence on or before 31 March 2014[needs update], unless deprived of legal capacity.[66][64][65]
European Union citizens aged 17 or over on the last day of the year the election happens, resident in Greece and registered in the electoral roll on or before 3 March 2014[needs update].[67][64][65]
European Union citizens aged 25 or over, unless deprived of legal capacity.
Hungary
Hungarian citizens aged 18 or over on polling day and whose municipality of residence is in Hungary. (automatically listed in the electoral register)
European Union citizens aged 18 or over on polling day and whose municipality of residence is in Hungary and have submitted a notification to be listed in the electoral register.
Any European Union citizens who are entitled to vote (whose municipality of residence is in Hungary).
Ireland
European Union citizens who are ordinarily resident in Ireland on 1 September in the year before the Register of Electors comes into force.[68]
Irish citizens who are officials on duty abroad (and their spouses) who are registered on the postal voters list.
European Union citizens over the age of 21, not otherwise disqualified from election to the Dáil.
Italy
Italian and European Union citizens aged 18 or over on polling day who are resident in Italy and enrolled in the electoral list of their town of residence up to 19 days before polling day.[69]
Italian citizens aged 18 or over on polling day who are resident in other EU member states and have submitted an application to the Italian consulate up to 18 days before polling day.
Italian citizens aged 18 or over on polling day who are resident outside the European Union for the purpose of work, study or living with family and have submitted an application to the Italian consulate up to 18 days before polling day.
European Union citizens aged 25 or over on polling day and not deprived of the right to stand in their home country.
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Luxembourgish citizens aged 18 or over on polling day resident in Luxembourg or overseas and enrolled in the electoral list up to 87 days before polling day.[70]
European Union citizens resident in Luxembourg for at least 2 years, aged 18 or over on polling day and enrolled in the electoral list up to 87 days before polling day.[71]
Voting is compulsory.
Luxembourgish citizens aged 18 or over on polling day and resident in Luxembourg.[72]
European Union citizens aged 18 or over on polling day and resident in Luxembourg for at least 5 years.
Malta
Maltese citizens aged 18 or over on polling day.
Netherlands
Dutch citizens aged 18 or over on polling day.
European Union citizens resident in the Netherlands, aged 18 or over on polling day and not deprived of the right to stand in their home country.
European Union citizens aged 18 or over on polling day.
Any people aged 18 or over on polling day and legally resident in the European Union at the time of candidature.[73]
Poland
Polish citizens aged 18 or over on polling day who are resident outside Poland and registered to vote.
European Union citizens aged 18 or over on polling day who are resident in Poland.[74]
European Union citizens aged 21 or over on polling day and resident in Poland or the European Union for at least 5 years, were never sentenced to imprisonment for a crime committed intentionally prosecuted by public indictment or for an intentional fiscal offence.[75]
Portugal
European Union citizens aged 18 or over on polling day who are resident in Portugal and registered to vote.[76]
Portuguese citizens aged 18 or over on polling day who are resident outside Portugal and registered to vote.
Brazilian citizens enjoying special status of equal political rights in Portugal (cidadãos brasileiros com estatuto especial de igualdade de direitos políticos) aged 18 or over on polling day who are resident in Portugal and registered to vote.[77]
European Union citizens.
Brazilian citizens enjoying special status of equal political rights in Portugal (cidadãos brasileiros com estatuto especial de igualdade de direitos políticos) aged 18 or over on polling day who are resident in Portugal and registered to vote.[78]
Romania
Romanian citizens aged 18 or over on polling day, regardless of domicile.
European Union citizens aged 18 or over on polling day and whose municipality of residence is in Romania.
European Union citizens aged 18 or over on polling day who are recorded in the register kept by the Municipal Council of their municipality of residence (Padrón) and have formally expressed their wish to vote in the European Parliament election in Spain.[79]
European Union citizens
Sweden
Swedish citizens aged 18 or over on polling day who are, or at some time have been, registered residents in Sweden.
European Union citizens aged 18 or over on polling day who are current registered residents in Sweden and have submitted a notification to be listed on the electoral roll.[80]
European Union citizens
Opinion polling
Opinion polling for EU Parliament elections is less common than for national parliament elections, and no polls are available on the aggregate level. Europe Elects introduced a monthly seat projection based on publicly available polling data in 2014. This was complemented in 2019 by a popular vote projection based on EU parliament groups.[81]
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union, it adopts European legislation, following a proposal by the European Commission. The Parliament is composed of 720 members (MEPs), after the June 2024 European elections, from a previous 705 MEPs. It represents the second-largest democratic electorate in the world, with an electorate of around 375 million eligible voters in 2024.
Elections in Sweden are held once every four years. At the highest level, all 349 members of Riksdag, the national parliament of Sweden, are elected in general elections. Elections to the 20 county councils and 290 municipal assemblies – all using almost the same electoral system – are held concurrently with the legislative elections on the second Sunday in September.
The 2004 European Parliament election was the United Kingdom's part of the wider 2004 European Parliament election which was held between 10 and 13 June 2004 in the 25 member states of the European Union. The United Kingdom's part of this election was held on Thursday 10 June 2004. The election also coincided with the 2004 local elections and the London Assembly and mayoral elections. In total, 78 Members of the European Parliament were elected from the United Kingdom using proportional representation.
At a national level, Greece holds elections for its legislature, the Hellenic Parliament.
Romania elects on a national level a head of state – the president – and a legislature. The president is elected for a five-year term by the people. The Romanian Parliament has two chambers. The Chamber of Deputies has currently 330 members, elected for a four-year term by party-list proportional representation on closed lists. The Senate has currently 136 members, elected for a four-year term by party-list proportional representation on closed lists.
There are five types of elections in Slovakia: municipal elections, regional elections, parliamentary elections, presidential elections and elections to the European Parliament. All four types of elections are normally held after fixed periods, although early elections can occur in certain situations. Elections are conventionally scheduled for a Saturday - the polls normally open at 7:00 in the morning and close at 22:00 in the evening. Citizens aged 18 years or older are eligible to vote. Those serving prison sentences for particularly serious crimes, as well as those deprived of legal capacity, including persons with mental disabilities, are denied the right to vote. Voter registration is passive and decentralized with the voter register maintained by municipalities based on the permanent residence register. Voter lists are updated continuously based on municipal records and input provided by state institutions or other municipalities. Voters may verify their data in voter lists, and, if necessary, request correction until the day before election day. On election day, a voter can be added to a voter list upon presenting an identity card with proof of residency. Some 4.4 million voters are registered and valid to vote in the elections. Voters are only able to vote from abroad during the Parliamentary Elections in Slovakia.
All elections in the Czech Republic are based on the principle of universal suffrage. Any adult citizen who is at least 18 years old can vote, except those who have been stripped of their legal capacities by a court, usually on the basis of mental illness. Elected representatives are elected directly by the citizens without any intermediaries. Election laws are not part of the constitution, but – unlike regular laws – they cannot be changed without the consensus of both houses of the Parliament. The Czech Republic uses a two-round plurality voting system for the presidential and Senate elections and an open party-list proportional representation system for all other elections. The proportional representation system uses the Sainte-Laguë method for allocating seats.
Elections in Hungary are held at two levels: general elections to elect the members of the National Assembly and local elections to elect local authorities. European Parliament elections are also held every 5 years.
Elections in Luxembourg are held to determine the political composition of the representative institutions of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Luxembourg is a liberal representative democracy, with universal suffrage guaranteed under its constitution. Elections are held regularly, and are considered to be fair and free.
Elections in Lithuania are held to select members of the parliament, the president, members of the municipal councils and mayors, as well as delegates to the European Parliament. Lithuanian citizens can also vote in mandatory or consultative referendums.
Malta elects on a national level 6 MEPs representing Malta in the European Parliament, on a district level the legislature, on a local level the local councils, and on a community level the Administrative Committees.
A European Parliament election was held in Portugal on 19 July 1987. It was the election of all 24 MEPs representing the Portugal constituency for the remainder of the 1984–1989 term of the European Parliament. Portugal had acceded to the European Community on 1 January 1986 and had been represented in the European Parliament by 24 appointed delegates until elections could be held. These elections took place on the same day of the legislative elections of 1987.
European Parliament elections were held in Bulgaria on 20 May 2007. It was the country's first European election, having joined the Union on 1 January of that year. The country still had 18 MEPs, no change from before the election. Until Bulgaria could hold these elections, the country was represented by MEPs appointed by the National Assembly.
The 2009 European Parliament election was the United Kingdom's component of the 2009 European Parliament election, the voting for which was held on Thursday 4 June 2009. The election was held concurrently with the 2009 local elections in England. In total, 72 Members of the European Parliament were elected from the United Kingdom using proportional representation.
The 1979 European Parliament election was a series of parliamentary elections held across all 9 European Community member states. They were the first European elections to be held, allowing citizens to elect 410 MEPs to the European Parliament, and also the first international election in history.
Greece is a European Parliament constituency for elections in the European Union covering the member state of Greece. It is currently represented by twenty-one Members of the European Parliament.
The 2014 European Parliament election was held in the European Union (EU) between 22 and 25 May 2014. It was the 8th parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979, and the first in which the European political parties fielded candidates for President of the Commission.
An election of the Members of the European Parliament from the Netherlands was held on 22 May 2014. This is the 8th time the elections have been held for the European elections in the Netherlands.
The 2019 European Parliament election in Denmark was held on 26 May 2019, and elected the Danish members to the European Parliament. The elections are part of the EU-wide elections for the parliament. Denmark had 13 seats in parliament, which increased by one additional seat following Brexit.
The 2024 European Parliament election was held in the European Union (EU) between 6 and 9 June 2024. It was the tenth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979, and the first European Parliament election after Brexit. A total of 720 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) were elected to represent more than 450 million people from 27 member states. This election also coincided with a number of other elections in some European Union member states.
↑ Reif, K. and Schmitt, H. (1980) 'Nine Second-Order National Elections: A Conceptual Framework for the Analysis of European Election Results'. European Journal of Political Research, Vol. 8, No. 1, pp. 3–45.
Η εκλογή των μελών του Ευρωπαϊκού Κοινοβουλίου στις έδρες που κάθε φορά αναλογούν στην Ελλάδα, διενεργείται με άμεση, καθολική και μυστική ψηφοφορία από τους πολίτες που έχουν το δικαίωμα του εκλέγειν, σύμφωνα με τις διατάξεις των άρθρων 4, 5 και 6 του π.δ. 26/2012 «Κωδικοποίηση σε ενιαίο κείμενο των διατάξεων της νομοθεσίας για την εκλογή βουλευτών» (Α΄ 57). Το δικαίωμα του εκλέγειν έχουν και οι πολίτες των λοιπών κρατών − μελών της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης κατά τα οριζόμενα στο ν. 2196/1994 (Α΄ 41). Η άσκηση του εκλογικού δικαιώματος είναι υποχρεωτική.
In English:
Election of Members of the European Parliament in the seats each time allocated to Greece shall be effected by direct, universal and secret ballot by the citizens entitled to vote in accordance with the provisions of Articles 4, 5 and 6 of the Presidential Decree. 26/2012 'Codification in a single text of the provisions of the legislation on the election of Members' (A 57). The citizens of other Member States of the European Union have the right to vote, as provided for in Law 2196/1994 (A 41). Exercise of the right to vote is compulsory.
Η παρ. 1 του άρθρου 4 του Π.δ. 26/2012 (Α ́57) αντι-καθίσταται ως εξής: «1. Το δικαίωμα του εκλέγειν έχουν οι πολίτες Έλλη-νες και Ελληνίδες που συμπλήρωσαν το δέκατο έβδομο (17ο) έτος της ηλικίας τους».
In English:
Article 1 (1) of the PD. 26/2012 (A 57) is replaced by the following: «1. The citizens of Greece and Greeks who have reached their seventeenth (17th) year of age have the right to vote.»
↑ This based on a Dutch decision by the 'Kiesraad', which disallowed South Africa's John M. Coetzee and two other non-European candidates on the sole ground that they had no proof of legal residence.
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