YOUR MEPs are elected to the European Parliament by the system of proportional representation.

There are two types of proportional representation – a closed list and open list system – with parties providing a list of candidates for both.

However, in the open system, voters put a cross by the name of a candidate and in the closed system, which is used to elect UK seats in the European Parliament, voters put a cross next to the party which they would like to see elected. Within this system the distribution of seats is determined by the percentage of the vote gained. 

Parties list five candidates in numerical order who they want to represent the party if seats are won and then, when the party knows how many seats they have gained, they can implement their choice of MEP.