How the European Election works
On 4 June, 2009, a ballot will be held to appoint six Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) for the South West England constituency. The MEPs will be elected to serve for five years.
Unlike general elections within the UK, the European election uses a system of semi-proportional representation to fill the six available places according to the number of votes cast for each party across the whole region, according to the D’Hondt method. Parties are allocated one or more seats, in proportion to the number of votes they polled. Each party can field up to six candidates numbered from one to six, with the first candidate on the list taking the first seat allocated to that party, the second taking the second seat, and so on.
Why the Green Party has a real chance
With a fairer electoral system for this election, the party has a real chance of returning its lead candidate, Ricky Knight, as one of the six MEPs for South West England.
The Green Party already has serving MEPs for London and for South East England; we can do the same in the South West.
Your vote really counts. You can elect Ricky Knight as a Green MEP for South West England!
