Biggest EU election gets under way

[T_i_B]

And I've already voted!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3792877.stm

People in Britain and the Netherlands have begun voting in elections for representatives to the EU parliament.

Twenty-five EU member states will take part in the world's biggest trans-national polls over the next four days, with results due on Sunday.

The war in Iraq and the degree of European control over local affairs look set to dominate the polls.

But there are fears that up to half the 350 million-odd people eligible to vote will ignore the exercise.

[Leprechan29]

1. 350 million-odd apathetic voters?

Sounds like the good old U S of A

[cspiguy]

2. EU parliment is meaningless.

n/t

[KDLarsen]

4. I will be..

.. until some member states get their act together and starts following the rules (Germany and France vs. the Stability Pact).

In Denmark, we'll be voting on Sunday, and right now, I'm looking at some of the candidates just to the left of the center, to see if their views are matching mine (No software patents, Turkey into EU once they adapt the Human Right and democracy necessary, a gradual removal of the farmer subsidies - I think it's absurd that farmers can actually earn money by not growing anything and just rely on subsidies). At the moment, it's only a conservative candidate that matches my views.

EDIT: Actually, one of the more interesting candidates on the left, is matching some of my views too, though I think I'll have to look some more at his vies & policies.

[Minstrel Boy]

3. Election for Mayor of London, too.

Go, Red Ken!

[Screaming Lord Byron]

7. Agreed. Give 'em hell, Ken.

[Turley]

5. No one here knows what the EU Parliament does

and I don't know a single person planning to vote. In other German States there are domestic elections going on so the turnout should be higher there.

[AP]

6. In UK the # of postal ballots returned is already greater...

...than the total number of voters in '99, IIUC.

[T_i_B]

9. Have you any figures to back that up AP?

I've voted by post before now and the opportunity for skullduggery is rife.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3790229.stm

Allegations of electoral fraud have overshadowed the end of campaigning for the European and local elections.

The claims being investigated by police in Lancashire and Manchester are that some voters have been intimidated into handing over their blank ballot papers. Others have been forced to vote for a particular party, it is claimed.

Greater Manchester Police are probing malpractice claims while the Lancashire force will question 60 people about 170 proxy vote applications.

One man told BBC Radio 4's PM: "They are knocking on doors and saying give us your forms, we'll fill them in for you and we'll post them for you...they are trying to fiddle the elections."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;sessionid=ZBABK1GPLHR4HQFIQMGCM54AVCBQUJVC?xml=/news/2004/06/10/nvote10.xml&sSheet=/portal/2004/06/10/ixportaltop.html&secureRefresh=true&_requestid=50199

Four police forces are investigating hundreds of alleged cases of postal vote fraud that could cast doubt on the integrity of today's local and European elections.

Last night the Electoral Commission, an independent body set up by Parliament to monitor elections, confirmed that it was investigating irregularities.

Charles Kennedy, the Liberal Democrat leader, feared a repetition of scenes in Florida in the American presidential election when individual votes were scrutinised.

In Derby, in the East Midlands poll area, allegations of fraud have been referred to the police by Michael Foote, the council's returning officer. They include a complaint that a postal vote was cast despite the voter being in India and not knowing about the election.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardianpolitics/story/0,3605,1229330,00.html

The government's experiment with widespread all-postal voting for next week's European and local elections was resting on a knife edge last night with hundreds of thousands of ballot papers missing a deadline to arrive at Royal Mail offices.

While Downing Street insisted that 97% of the 14.8m ballot papers for electors in three northern regions and the east Midlands should have been sent to the Post Office by last night, a question mark still hangs over around 400,000, largely delayed through printing difficulties.

At Oldham, in greater Manchester, the council decided to largely bypass the Royal Mail and use 120 of its own staff, including binmen, to deliver voting forms to 159,000 electors. Although they were still making the final deliveries late last night, the council said it was confident the deadline would be reached.

But around the north-west - which the Electoral Commission said should be excluded from the experiment because of the number of local elections - 300,000 ballot papers could still miss the deadline. Macclesfield council, in Cheshire, sent its staff to hand-deliver forms to old people's homes.

[AP]

10. BBC reported it yesterday.

By the way, with more people voting by post, naturally, you're going to find stories about post-related fraud.

BTW, I could have misheard. The point to which I was responding was the German poster's claim that turnout will be low because people don't understand what their EU reps do.

I think it's definitely the case that turnout is going to be high in the UK.

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

11. I don't think turnout will be "high"

-- higher than last time, yes (which was IIRC 24%), but that really isn't saying much.

[AP]

12. It's already higher in many areas just from postal ballots: here's link:

"As a result, European election turnout is already higher in many areas than in 1999. "

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3792445.stm

[Screaming Lord Byron]

8. Let's hope the UK Independence Party doesn't do as well as they're

expected to do. Any party that uses Joan Collins as a spokesperson is disturbing. That and they're just a bunch of old Tory Europhobes.

[Juan]

13. In Spain we're expecting for a 60-70% turnout

Many people want to show how much or how little march's commuter train attacks changed our vote...

[newyawker99]

14. Hi Sky!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast: