May 14 - Government Encourages People To Vote At European Elections

Elections to the European Parliament will take place next week on Thursday 23 May. The Government says it encourages eligible voters to cast their vote at these elections.

The deadline for voter registration has already passed as has the deadline to register as a postal voter.

However, it is still possible to register to vote by proxy. This means that anyone who is unable to vote in person on 23rd May can nominate somebody else to go and vote for them.

The closing date to register to vote by proxy is tomorrow Wednesday 15 May at 5pm.

It is important to note that unlike in elections to the Gibraltar Parliament, in European elections voters have one vote only and they should place that one vote next to the name of the party of their choice.

The Deputy Chief Minister Dr Joseph Garcia said: “It will be recalled that Gibraltar was originally excluded from the franchise for European elections. This was only extended to us after a lengthy political and legal battle which saw the United Kingdom being taken to the European Court of Human Rights in order to rectify the situation. These elections are taking place against the immediate context of the potential departure of the United Kingdom and Gibraltar from the European Union, which makes it all the more important that people should go to the polling stations to cast their vote.”