2019 – Posted in: Daily News – Tags: European Union, Irish Sea, United Kingdom

EU PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION

For: Mains
Topic covers: Complete Election details – procedure, voter, voting system etc.

News Flash

Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party is on course to win European parliamentary election in the United Kingdom while pro-European Union parties remain divided.

Who can vote?

Any adult who is a British citizen, an Irish, EU or qualifying Commonwealth citizen can register to vote in the election.
British citizens living overseas who are registered as overseas electors within the last 15 years can also take part.

What do voters need to do?

In Britain, voters put one cross against the party or independent candidate they wish to vote for.
Parties are listed first on the ballot paper, alphabetically, followed by individual candidates who are standing as independents.
In Northern Ireland, the single transferable vote (STV) system is used so voters mark 1, 2, 3 and so on against candidates in order of preference.

Who gets elected?

The United Kingdom is divided into 12 electoral regions – nine in England, and one each for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. In total it will elect 73 MEPs (Members of the European Parliament).

What system is used?

In Britain, parties submit a list of candidates for each region and voters select a party rather than an individual candidate, unless they are backing an independent.

As the seats are allocated to a party, they in turn allocate them to candidates starting from the top of their list.

In Northern Ireland, as votes are counted the candidate with the least votes in eliminated and their votes redistributed. This is repeated until there are only the required number of candidates left for the number of seats available.

Isn’t the UK leaving the EU?

Britain is taking part in the elections because it delayed the date of its exit from the EU, but its MEPs will leave the parliament when Brexit happens.

Is there an exit poll?

No.

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom (UK), officially the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, is a sovereign country located off the north-western coast of the European mainland.

The United Kingdom consists of four constituent countries: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
Apart from England, the countries have their own devolved governments.
The United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, and many smaller islands.
United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east, the English Channel to the south and the Celtic Sea to the south-west, giving it the 12th-longest coastline in the world.
The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland.
The UK is a unitary parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy.
The United Kingdom’s capital and largest city is London, a global city and financial centre with an urban area population of 10.3 million.

Source: Indian Express

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