The elections to the European Parliament are still, to a large extent, organised according to national law and traditions. There are common EU rules which lay down that the elections must be by direct universal suffrage as well as free and confidential and that MEPs must be elected in the Member States on the basis of proportional representation.
The election period is determined at EU level but the exact polling date and opening hours for polling stations vary. In the same way, it is up to each Member State whether they use an open or closed list system.
Establishing constituencies is also in Member States' hands. Malta and Gozo, for example, become a single constituency for the EP elections, unlike the general election when the country is subdivided into 13 districts. Most countries are considered a single electoral area. But Belgium, Ireland, Italy, France, Poland and the UK choose to have several constituencies.
Open system - voters indicate preferred candidates
When voting is based on an open list system, the voters can indicate a preference for one or more candidates on the list. This is done for instance in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Malta, Netherlands, Slovakia, Slovenia and Sweden.
Closed system - voters can't choose their candidates
Voters in Estonia, France, Greece, Hungary, Spain and UK cannot choose the individual candidates they would like to elect. It is the political parties establish the order of candidates and the voters only cast their vote on the party.
What is the minimum voting age?
There are differences among the Member States. In several countries, you can both vote and stand for elections at the age of 18 (Denmark, Finland, Germany, Luxemburg, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia and Sweden). But in Austria you can vote at the age of 16 and stand in elections at 18. In Italy, you must be 18 to vote and 25 to stand for election.
Who can't be an MEP?
There are several positions that are incompatible with being an MEP. Nobody can be at once an MEP and a Minister or national MP, nor an active official of the European institutions. Some countries lay down further incompatibilities to being an MEP, for instance being a bank director in Austria, a career member of the police in Hungary, an agent paid by the national railway society in Ireland or a television director in Spain.
Voting by post
Voting by post or in polling stations in embassies is not possible for Maltese citizens, though some Member States allow it. For a number of years it has been a Maltese government practice to subsidise air fares for eligible voters living outside the country. This should happen again for the June 2009 elections.
For detailed information or questions about the electoral process in Malta consult the Electoral Commission's website www.electoral.gov.mt