European elections should no longer be held over four days starting in 2024, but on one fixed day: May 9. That was proposed by the European Parliament.
The Parliament also wants voters to be able to cast two votes: one for a national candidate and one for a candidate from another EU country. Additionally, EU politicians want to reconsider a system with pan-European lead candidates.
This would allow a limited number of Members of the European Parliament (28) to be directly elected by all EU citizens. Currently, MEPs can only be elected through a national list. With these transnational lists, the EP hopes to promote more pan-European elections.
Furthermore, on Monday, May 9 (‘Europe Day’), proposals from the “Conference on the Future of Europe” will also be presented, which include many recommendations to strengthen European democracy.
In the previous elections, in 2019, no women were elected to the European Parliament from some countries. Therefore, the European Parliament wants a mandatory ‘zipper system’ where men and women alternate on candidate lists.
Another idea is to apply quotas to also respect the rights of non-binary persons. Additionally, postal voting should be made possible. The Parliament also wants eighteen-year-olds to be eligible to stand as candidates in all member states.
European candidate lists are said to reduce the gap between voters and European institutions. Voters could then directly vote for candidates running for the presidency of the European Commission.
The Dutch SGP and Christian Union consider it a bad plan to vote on Ascension Day in 2024. The report includes the proposal to hold the upcoming elections on Thursday, May 9, the date that is indeed called ‘Europe Day.’