European Parliamentary Research Service Blog
voting rights
Direct European Elections : The history of the right to vote
With this 8th edition of the European elections in 2014, European Union citizens will once more have the opportunity to vote for their representatives in the European Parliament. The first EP elections took place in 1979, but the discussion on the importance of active participation of citizens of the Member States already began in the … Continue reading
EP elections 2014: voting rights when living abroad
With the European elections just around the corner, citizens continue to turn to the EP with many different requests. Many are also concerned about their voting rights when living abroad and certain express their discontent at the complexity of different national voting regulations The European Parliament launched the “Elections 2014” website providing summarized information on … Continue reading
Topics and links − March 2014
How did the European Parliament react to the Russian invasion of Crimea? How can I vote in the upcoming European elections, even if I live abroad? Answers to these questions or other citizens’ concerns can be found by consulting our selection of links below. The following topics are based on questions and comments from citizens … Continue reading
Does Disenfranchisement violate the European Convention on Human Rights?
The case Mr Harry Shindler is a British national, residing since 1982 in Italy. According to British law, British nationals residing abroad retain their electoral rights for 15 years, after which they are removed form the electoral register, until their return to the United Kingdom (UK). As a consequence, Mr Shindler is not eligible to … Continue reading
Disenfranchisement of EU citizens
In some Member States (MS), citizens lose their electoral rights if they reside abroad. Conversely, MS do not generally provide any right to vote in national elections to non-nationals. Therefore, EU citizens resident in another MS often face exclusion from political life at national level in both their state of residence and their state of … Continue reading
Women in Parliament, a historical view
Even in those parts of the world in which women’s quest for equality has been most successful, it took a long time before they began to hold any political positions. The first countries to accept women’s suffrage – generally defined as the combination of the right to vote and the right to run for office, … Continue reading
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