European Parliament 2024 elections: First voters go to the polls on June 6
Voters in the Netherlands will be the first to go the polls, on June 6, in the 2024 European Parliament elections, while other European Union countries follow in a process that concludes on June 9.
About 360 million citizens of the 27 EU countries are eligible to vote for their representatives in the European Parliament in the body’s 10th direct election, the first direct election having held in 1979.
The 2024 European Parliament election is the first since the United Kingdom left the EU.
In the Netherlands, voters will elect 31 Members of the European Parliament in 2024, five more than in the 2019 elections.
In September 2023, MEPs approved the European Council’s decision to increase the number of European Parliament seats by 15 to 720 for the 2024-2029 legislative term.
The Council’s proposal was based on a report from the Parliament recommending an additional 11 seats. The report took into account the most recent census results.
To see the seat distribution in the European Parliament by EU country please visit the European Parliament’s website.
The dates of the elections are:
June 6 – the Netherlands
June 7 – Ireland
June 7-8 – Czechia
June 8 – Latvia, Malta, Slovakia
June 8-9 – Italy
June 9 – Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden.
Voting age is set at 16 in Austria, Belgium, Germany and Malta, 17 in Greece, and 18 in the remaining EU member states.
EU statistics agency Eurostat, which compiled figures from national statistical agencies, said that when it comes to first-time voters (people who have reached voting age since the last European elections in 2019), the highest numbers are expected in Germany (5.1 million people), France (4.5 million) and Italy (2.8 million).
The lowest numbers are expected in Malta (26 000 people), Cyprus (59 000) and Estonia (70 000). The highest shares of first-time voters are expected in Belgium, France and Cyprus with 9.8 per cent, nine per cent and 8.7 per cent of all eligible voters, respectively.
National estimates show that, on the election dates, the highest numbers of eligible voters are expected in Germany (65.1 million people), France (50.7 million) and Italy (47.3 million).
The lowest numbers are expected in Malta (0.4 million), Luxembourg (0.5 million) and Cyprus (0.7 million).
The first estimated composition of the new European Parliament is expected at about 8.15pm to 8.30pm CEST on June 9, with the first provisional election results expected about 11.14pm to 11.30pm CEST.
Provisional European election results can only be published after 11pm CEST, when the last polls in Italy have closed. Before then, the European Parliament will issue estimations, based on exit polls.
(Photo, of the European Parliament in Strasbourg: Clive Leviev-Sawyer)
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