How to use your vote in the European Parliament elections
Published: 15 May 2019
The European Parliament represents people living in all the member countries of the European Union (EU).
On Thursday 23rd May at 7.00am, polling stations in Derby will open their doors for the second time this year, to allow citizens to vote in the European Parliament elections.
What does the European Parliament do?
The European Parliament represents people living in all the member countries of the European Union (EU). It has powers in a range of areas that affect member countries and can approve, change or reject new European laws (like the GDPR that came into effect last year).
How is it made up?
The European Parliament is currently made up of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) who are elected by 28 EU member countries.
The UK is currently represented at the European Parliament by 73 MEPs from 12 electoral regions and each region is represented by between three and 10 MEPs. The East Midlands region is represented by five MEPs.
How is it elected?
You have one vote to elect all of the MEPs for your region. Each party puts forward a list of candidates – known as a regional list – and you vote for one of these lists or for an individual candidate standing as an independent.
The number of MEPs that are elected from each party to represent a region depends on the overall share of votes that each party receives.
Where can I find out more information?
More information about voting in these and other elections is available on the Your Vote Matters website.
Information about the European Parliament, how it works and what it does can be found on the European Parliament website.
To find out more about the European Parliament elections and what is happening in other EU countries, visit the European elections website.
Do I need to bring ID to vote this time?
No – the Voter ID pilot was only for the Local Elections which took place on the 2nd of May 2019.