Entry on and removal from the electoral roll
1. Member States shall take the measures necessary to enable a Union voter who has expressed the wish to be registered as a voter to be entered on the electoral roll sufficiently in advance of polling day.
2. In order to have their name entered on the electoral roll, Union voters shall produce the same documents as voters who are nationals. They shall also produce a formal declaration, which shall contain the following elements:
(a)
their name, nationality, date and place of birth, and address in the electoral territory of the Member State of residence;
(b)
where applicable, the locality or constituency in their home Member State on the electoral roll of which their name was last entered; and
(c)
a statement that they will exercise their right to vote in the Member State of residence only.
3. The Member State may also require Union voters to:
(a)
produce a valid identity document;
(b)
state in their declaration under paragraph 2:
(i)
that they have not been deprived of the right to vote in their home Member State;
(ii)
where applicable, the personal identification number issued by the home Member State or the Member State of residence;
(iii)
the type and serial number of the identity document or travel document issued by the home Member State;
(iv)
the date of the declaration; and
(v)
their contact details, such as a telephone number or email address;
(c)
indicate the date from which they have been resident in that Member State or in another Member State.
4. Union voters who have been entered on the electoral roll shall remain thereon, under the same conditions as voters who are nationals, until they request to be removed or until they are removed because they no longer satisfy the requirements for exercising the right to vote. Where provisions are in place to notify nationals of such a removal from the electoral roll, those provisions shall apply to Union voters in the same way.
5. Member States may use the template set out in Annex I for the purposes of the declaration referred to in paragraph 2.
6. The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 20 to amend the list referred to in paragraph 3, point (b), of this Article only by adding elements to it.
Registration as a candidate
1. When submitting an application to stand as a candidate, Union citizens shall produce the same supporting documents as candidates who are nationals. They shall also produce a formal declaration, which shall contain the following elements:
(a)
their name, nationality, date and place of birth, last address in the home Member State and address in the electoral territory in the Member State of residence;
(b)
a statement that they are not standing as a candidate for election to the European Parliament in any other Member State;
(c)
where applicable, the locality or constituency in their home Member State on the electoral roll of which their name was last entered; and
(d)
a statement that they have not been deprived of the right to stand as a candidate in the home Member State through an individual judicial decision or an administrative decision, provided that the latter can be subject to judicial remedies.
2. The Member State of residence may also require Union citizens entitled to stand as candidates to:
(a)
produce a valid identity document;
(b)
state in their declaration under paragraph 1:
(i)
where applicable, the personal identification number issued by the home Member State or Member State of residence;
(ii)
the type and serial number of the identity document or travel document issued by the home Member State;
(iii)
the date of the declaration; and
(iv)
their contact details, such as a telephone number or email address;
(c)
indicate the date from which they have been nationals of a Member State.
3. Member States may use the template set out in Annex II for the purposes of the declaration referred to in paragraph 1.
4. The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 20 to amend the list referred to in paragraph 2, point (b), of this Article only by adding elements to it.
Decision on registration and legal remedies
1. The Member State of residence shall inform the person concerned in a timely manner and in clear and plain language of the decision taken on that person’s application for entry on the electoral roll or of the decision concerning the admissibility of that person’s application to stand as a candidate.
2. Should a Union citizen be refused entry on the electoral roll, or a Union citizen’s application to stand as a candidate be rejected, the person concerned shall be entitled to legal remedies on the same terms as the law of the Member State of residence prescribes for voters and persons entitled to stand as candidates who are its nationals.
3. In the event that there are errors in the electoral rolls or in the lists of candidates for election to the European Parliament, the person concerned shall be entitled to legal remedies on the same terms as the law of the Member State of residence prescribes for voters and persons entitled to stand as candidates who are its nationals.
4. Member States shall inform the person concerned clearly and in a timely manner of the decision referred to in paragraph 1 and of the legal remedies referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3.
Provision of information
1. Member States shall designate one or more authorities with responsibility for taking the measures necessary to ensure that non-national Union citizens are informed in a timely manner of the conditions and detailed rules for registration as a voter or candidate in elections to the European Parliament.
2. Member States shall ensure that the authorities designated pursuant to paragraph 1 make the following information available to registered Union voters and registered Union citizens entitled to stand as candidates, in a timely manner:
(a)
the status of their registration, upon request;
(b)
the date of the election and how and where to vote;
(c)
the relevant rules on voter and candidate rights and obligations, including those concerning prohibitions, incompatibilities and sanctions for violating electoral rules, in particular those pertaining to multiple voting;
(d)
means of obtaining further information relating to the organisation of the election, including the list of candidates.
3. The information on conditions and detailed rules for registration as a voter or candidate in elections to the European Parliament and the information referred to in paragraph 2 shall be made available in accordance with the quality requirements set out in Article 9(1) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1724 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 9 ) in one or more official languages of the Member State of residence.
General information on the national framework for the organisation of elections to the European Parliament, including the conditions for registration as a voter or candidate, the date of the election and how and where to vote shall also be available in at least one other official language of the Union that is broadly understood by Union citizens residing on its territory. Member States may request the Commission to provide assistance for such translations in accordance with Article 12 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1724. Such translations shall be purely informative and shall have no legal effect.
4. Member States shall ensure that information on conditions and detailed rules for registration as a voter or candidate in elections to the European Parliament and information referred to in paragraph 2 are made accessible, in particular to persons with disabilities, by using appropriate means, modes and formats of communication.
Information exchange mechanism
1. Member States shall exchange the information collected pursuant to Articles 9 and 10, sufficiently in advance of polling day. To that end, without prejudice to national provisions on the entry of voters on the electoral roll and the submission of candidates, the Member State of residence shall begin supplying that information to the home Member State, no later than six weeks before the first day of the electoral period referred to in Article 10(1) of the Electoral Act. The Member State of residence shall also provide the registration date on its electoral roll for requests of registrations made after the transposition date of this Directive. The home Member State shall, in accordance with its national law, take appropriate measures to ensure that its nationals do not vote more than once or stand as candidates in more than one Member State.
2. The home Member State shall ensure that the measures referred to in paragraph 1 do not prevent its nationals from voting or standing as candidates in other types of election.
3. The Commission shall provide a framework supporting the exchange of the information referred to in paragraph 1 by Member States. The framework shall allow Member States of residence to provide that information in an encrypted form.
4. The Commission is empowered to adopt implementing acts for the purpose of defining the technical standards for the operation of the framework referred to in paragraph 3 and the responsibilities and obligations, in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2016/679. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 19(2).
Specific means of voting
Member States that provide for the possibility of advance voting, postal voting, or electronic or internet voting in elections to the European Parliament shall ensure the availability of those voting methods to Union voters under conditions similar to those applicable to their own nationals.
Provision of statistical data
Member States shall enable the collection of relevant statistical data on the participation of non-national Union citizens in elections to the European Parliament and, where available, provide such data to the public and the Commission.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
