Archive:
(This document is for archive/historical
purposes)
The European Parliament Elections which take place on the tenth of June will be the first where British voters will use the proportional simple regional list system. This website provides the following information about the election, and the voting system:
The elections will take place on Thursday 10th June, 1999. A poll card
will be delivered to your home which will tell you where to vote. Please
see the question and answer page for further information.
The election timetable is also available
If you need to vote by post or through a proxy at the forthcoming election please contact your Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) through your local Town Hall or Council Offices. Your completed application for an absent vote must reach him by no later than 5.00pm on Tuesday 25th May.
Exceptionally, if you find that you will be unable to vote in person for health reasons, you may submit your application by 5.00pm on Wednesday 2 June, but in this case it must be attested by a registered medical practitioner, registered nurse or, for Christian Scientists, a Christian Science practitioner.
Since the first direct elections to the European Parliament in 1979, British
voters have elected MEPs using the first-past-the-post system.
The European Parliamentary
Elections Act 1999, which received Royal Assent on 14 January 1999,
will enable the 1999 and subsequent European Parliamentary elections to
be conducted using a proportional simple regional list system. This system
is designed to ensure that in each region, parties will win a share of the
seats which is broadly proportional to their share of the vote in that region.
The Act does not affect Northern Ireland which will continue to elect its
three MEPs using the single transferable vote system.
Under the simple regional list system, Great Britain will be divided into regions, each returning between four and eleven MEPs. Scotland and Wales will each constitute a single region and will return eight and five MEPs respectively. England will be divided into nine regions, and will return a total of 71 MEPs. These will be the same as those which are already used by the Government Offices for the Regions, with the exception of Merseyside which will be combined with the North West region.
European Parliamentary Elections Act 1999
European Parliamentary Elections Regulations 1999: Final Version