The European elections take place every five years. The next European elections and local elections in Baden-Württemberg will be held on Sunday, 9 June 2024.
The European Union (EU) consists of 27 countries. Just as there is a Bundestag in Germany and a Landtag for each federal state, there is the EU Parliament for Europe.
The EU Parliament is made up of MEPs from all EU countries. They represent the people of their countries and decide on important issues for the entire EU—for example, environmental protection or consumer rights. Following the UK’s withdrawal, the number of MEPs currently stands at 705. 96 MEPs from 14 different parties are represented from Germany. They join forces with MEPs from other countries to form European political groups with similar objectives. There are currently seven such groups.
Information about the various parties and their objectives can be obtained in personal discussions, for example at information stands, in the media and on the parties’ websites.
Around 350 million people across Europe can vote. For the first time, young people can also take part in the European elections in Germany. To take part in the European elections, voters must fulfil three rules: They must be at least 16 years old, have a German identity card or passport and have lived in Germany for at least three months. Voting takes place either in the polling station or by postal vote. The relevant postal voting documents must be applied for in advance. You can find out how to do this in the election notification.Voting is by secret ballot. If necessary, polling assistants can be asked to help. Voters tick a party on the ballot paper and then fold it and place it in the ballot box. When voting by post, voters fill in their ballot papers, put them in the appropriate envelopes and send them back together with the completed ballot paper in the red ballot paper envelope. It is important to send the ballot letter by post in good time a few days before election day so that the vote can be counted. However, the ballot letter with all the documents can also be posted to the specified office before 6 pm on Sunday.
If a party receives a large number of votes, many members of that party will be elected to the European Parliament. If a party has many members, it can achieve its goals more easily. Every single vote counts in the election.
After the election, the new MEPs in the EU Parliament make decisions about the future of Europe. One of the MEPs’ tasks is to make laws.
More information in plain language:
https://www.europawahl-bw.de/fileadmin/lpb_hauptportal/pdf/publikationen/wahlen_2024/wahlhilfe_europawahl_2024_bf.pdf
https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/baden-wuerttemberg/europawahl/2024-wahlzettel-zugelassene-parteien-und-politische-vereinigungen-bw-100.html
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Beflaggung vor dem Tübinger Regierungspräsidium. Foto: tünews INTERNATIONAL / Martin Klaus.
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