voting date, number of lists, minimum age to vote… Voting methods differ depending on the country

Young Germans, Belgians or Austrians can vote from the age of 16, while Greeks vote from the age of 17. Voting is compulsory in Belgium, Bulgaria, Greece and Luxembourg.

The European elections are scheduled for Sunday June 9 in France but take place on Thursday June 6 in the Netherlands. The European Union elects 720 MEPs, for some 450 million voters, according to methods which differ significantly from one country to another.

Usually the Dutch vote on Wednesday. This year, there is therefore an exception since the voting is postponed by one day. Ireland and the Czech Republic will vote on Friday June 7. Then it will be the turn of Italy, Malta, Slovakia and Latvia on Saturday June 8.

Voting by post is already possible in 14 EU countries and electronic voting exists in Estonia. Note that young Germans, Belgians or Austrians can vote from the age of 16. It’s 17 years in Greece. Voting is also compulsory in Belgium, Bulgaria, Greece and Luxembourg.

For the ballot papers, all contain as many names as there are positions of deputies to be filled: 96 for Germany, the most populous country in the Union, against six for Luxembourg, Malta or Cyprus. France will elect 81 European deputies, appointed for five years.

The ballot is in one round, and seats are won in proportion to the votes obtained, sometimes with a minimum score to be achieved. This floor for having elected representatives is 5% of the votes, in France as in eight other member states. It’s 4% in Italy, 3% in Greece… while in Germany, there is no threshold.

Finally, the number of lists also differs. There are 38 lists submitted to the French for choice this year, a record. There are 35 in Germany, 14 in Italy, 7 in Austria. In 2019, only six lists sent French MEPs to Strasbourg.