Press release no. 29/19 of 23. Mai 2019

2019 European Elections start today

WIESBADEN – From today onwards approximately 418 million eligible voters in the European Union are called upon to elect the 751 European Parliament members. The Federal Returning Officer also reports that polling stations opened today in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Voters in Ireland and the Czech Republic can cast their votes on 24 May, with polling stations staying open for two days in the Czech Republic. Latvia, Malta and Slovakia hold their elections on 25 May and all other EU Member States including Germany on 26 May.

The differences in the national provisions governing the 2019 European Elections do not only refer to the day of the election. In some countries voting is compulsory: voters in Belgium, Bulgaria, Greece, Luxembourg and Cyprus only have the choice where but not if they put their cross. In most EU Member States people can or must cast their votes from the age of 18. 17-year-olds go to the polls in Greece while the voting age is 16 in Austria and Malta.

Multiple voting, in contrast, is prohibited in all EU Member States. People entitled to vote may cast their vote only once and must do so personally. This provision also holds for persons who are also eligible to vote in another Member State of the European Union in European Parliament elections.

The last polling stations to close will be those in Italy, on 26 May at 11 p.m. Only then may official provisional election results be announced. The results available for towns and rural districts in Germany will therefore be published from 11 p.m. on the website of the Federal Returning Officer at www.bundeswahlleiter.de. All results coming in later will be published immediately and aggregated at Land and federal level.

The official provisional result will presumably be announced early in the morning of 27 May.

For further information:

Office of the Federal Returning Officer
tel: +49 611 75-4863
www.bundeswahlleiter.de/contact