Preferential votes per member state for EP elections
Dear European Parliament,
Under the right of access to documents in the EU treaties, as developed in Regulation 1049/2001, I am requesting documents which contain the following information:
I would like to know, how many preferential votes a citizen of a respective member state can cast at the european parliament elections and how many preferential votes a candidate in each member state would need to have chances for a seat in the EP.
I know that in Austria the minimum threshold for preferential votes is 5% of the party list votes and that each Austria citizen has only one preferential vote.
I know that in Belgium, the amount of preferential votes a Belgian can give is bigger than one. How much is the threshold?
For all other member states, I would like to ask you to give me the information on the amount of preferential votes, the threshold and any other relevant information to it for the last three EP elections.
Btw, the study "The European elections: EU legislation, national provisions and civic participation" by the DG for internal policies is a good starting point, but does not address this this specifities.
Yours faithfully,
Christian
Ref: A 14479
Dear Sir,
We acknowledge receipt of your request which will be dealt with as quickly
as possible. We will inform you accordingly.
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References
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3. mailto:[email address]
A(2014)14479
LF/rf
Dear Sir,
The Citizens’ Enquiries Unit of the European Parliament (EP) has been
asked to reply to your request for information on preferential votes per
Member State.
We would inform you that in conformity with the Act concerning the
election of the Members of the European Parliament by direct universal
suffrage of 20 September 1976 ([1]consolidated in 2002), Members of the
European Parliament shall be elected on the basis of proportional
representation and in this regard "Member States may authorise voting
based on a preferential list system".
The system of preferential vote for the EP elections is therefore not an
obligation for Member States, but just an option.
The following infographic, produced the by the European Parliamentary
Research Service (EPRS) on the [2]2014 elections: national rules, gives an
overview of which Member States use the preferential voting system and
also addresses the issue of electoral thresholds.
Since the [3]European elections are largely governed by national
legislation, each EU Member State decides on the procedures of its
election. For further detailed information on the existing electoral
processes in place, please consult the national authority responsible per
Member State.
We thank you for your interest in the European Parliament.
Yours sincerely,
Citizens' Enquiries Unit
[4]www.europarl.europa.eu/askEP
Disclaimer
Please note that the information given by the Citizens' Enquiries Unit of
the European Parliament is not legally binding
References
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1. http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/E...
2. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/eplibrary/...
3. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/aboutparli...
4. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/askEP