STATISTICAL YEARBOOK OF THE JIHOČESKÝ REGION 2004 |
Methodological notes | < back
11. ELECTIONS The accession of the Czech Republic to the European Union on 1 May 2004 brought the citizenships of the European Union to the citizens of the Czech Republic and thus also the right to elect their representatives to a representative body of the European Union - the European Parliament. Members of the European Parliament are elected for the term of office of five years. Under the European election law, the mandate of a member of the European Parliament starts with the opening of the first meeting of the European Parliament in its new five-year term. Elections to the European Parliament for the term of office 2004-2009 were held in all the member states of the European Union between 10 and 13 June 2004 and in the Czech Republic on 11-12 June 2004. The electoral system was not unified and varied according to the traditions and constitutional rules of individual member countries. In the Czech Republic, the way of voting to the European Parliament is regulated by Act No. 62/2003 Coll., on the Elections to the European Parliament and on Amendments to Certain Acts (hereinafter referred to as the "Elections to European Parliament Act"), which came into effect on 4 March 2003. This Act is in full compliance with the right of the European Community, which lays down the principles of European Parliament elections in the Treaty Establishing the European Community, in Directive of the Council No. 93/109/EC, which provides in detail for the fulfilment of the right of the citizens of the European Union residing in an EU member state as aliens to vote and to be elected in European Parliament elections. The principles of European Parliament elections are also regulated by the 1976 Act concerning the election of representatives to the Assembly by direct general elections (the European Election Act). Lists of candidates for European Parliament elections were submitted by registered political parties and political movements whose activity had not been suspended, and coalitions thereof, to the Ministry of the Interior not later than 66 days before the elections. Political parties, movements and coalitions standing in elections carried out all procedures concerning election affairs through their proxies. The highest number of candidates that a political party, political movement or coalition was allowed to enter in the list of candidates was by a third higher than the number of members of European Parliament elected in the Czech Republic. Under the Treaty of Accession of the Czech Republic to the European Union, 24 members of European Parliament were elected to the European Parliament in the Czech Republic. This means, the maximum number of candidates on the list of candidates was 32. The system of proportional representation was applied for European Parliament elections. To proceed to the scrutiny, where political parties, movements and coalitions standing in elections receive seats according to the classic d'Hondt method of electoral divisor, there was a 5% closing clause, regardless whether a political party, political movement or coalition was in question. In tables 11-3 and 11-6, the shares of votes cast for individual political parties, movements and coalitions (in compliance with the methodology of election results processing) were computed to two decimal places without rounding (they were "cut off"). Detailed information about election results by Region broken down to election wards can be found at Information Services Sections of the CZSO Regional Offices or on CZSO web pages www.czso.cz.
© Czech Statistical Office, 2004 Regional Office České Budějovice