European elections in NI: How and when to vote and a full list of candidates

The elections no-one thought would happen are due to take place today with voters gearing up to vote in the European Elections.
The European Elections take place on Thursday (Photo: Shutterstock)The European Elections take place on Thursday (Photo: Shutterstock)
The European Elections take place on Thursday (Photo: Shutterstock)

Despite the UK voting to leave the European Union in 2016, 73 members of the European parliament, the directly elected body of the EU, will be voted in today with results expected on Sunday 26 May.

Below is everything you need to know about the elections, including a full list of candidates.

How do I vote?

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Provided you are registered to vote (the deadline to register for these elections passed on 7 May), you vote in the same way you would for a general or council election by visiting a polling station, by post, or by proxy.

Northern Ireland is different to the rest of the UK due to the fact it uses the single transferable vote system rather than the d’Hondt system.

This means voters will rank the candidates by preference rather than voting for one single party.

As it stands in NI, there are three MEPs, with the region voting in an MEP from Sinn Fein, the DUP and the UUP in 2014.

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Polling stations will open from 7am and close at 10pm on 23 May, with results expected on Sunday.

The details of where you should vote and which polling station to go to will be on your polling card which you should have received in the post. You do not need your polling card to vote.

Who is standing?

In NI, the candidates in the European elections are the following:

Jim Allister, Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV)Martina Anderson, Sinn FeinClare Bailey, Green Party Northern IrelandAmandeep Singh Bhogal, Conservative and Unionist PartyDiane Dodds, Democratic Unionist Party (DUP)Colum Eastwood, Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP)Robert Hill, UKIPDanny Kennedy, Ulster Unionist Party (UUP)Naomi Long, Alliance PartyNeil McCann, Independent.Jane Morrice, Independent.