Overview

This bill proposes a change to the voting system for electing Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) in Great Britain and Gibraltar. It introduces an "open list" system, allowing voters to choose individual candidates from registered parties, impacting how seats are allocated.

Description

The bill replaces the existing electoral system with an open regional list system. This means voters can choose individual candidates from a list provided by registered parties. A party's list will contain no more candidates than there are MEPs to be elected for the region.

Seat allocation works as follows:

• The first seat goes to the candidate with the most votes, either from the party with most votes or an independent candidate with more votes than the top party candidate.
• Subsequent seats are allocated similarly; however, the votes of already-seated parties are divided by the number of seats the party has already won plus one. This aims for proportional representation.
• Once a party has filled its list, it receives no more seats. An individual candidate cannot be allocated more than one seat.
• Within a party, seats are assigned based on individual candidate vote counts.

The bill repeals Section 2 of the Parliamentary Elections Act 2002 to facilitate this change. The Act will come into force three months after its passage.

Government Spending

The bill's impact on government spending is not explicitly stated in the provided text. The costs associated with implementing a new electoral system (e.g., updated ballot papers, training election officials) may increase government spending. However, no figures are included in this legislation.

Groups Affected

• Voters: Will experience a change in how they vote for MEPs, potentially having more choice but also more complexity in understanding the allocation process.
• Political Parties: Need to adapt their campaigning strategies to the new open list system. Smaller parties might find it more difficult to secure seats.
• Candidates: Will need to campaign to appeal to individual voters rather than relying solely on party support.
• Electoral Officials: Will need to implement and administer the new electoral system.

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