VOTERS in the North West are taking part in the biggest multinational democratic election - part of a poll in which more than 375 million people in 27 countries can choose 736 Euro-MPs.

They can - but many won't: some forecasts suggest the UK turnout could be as low as 28%, compared with 38% five years ago.

On the other hand, seething anger over Westminster expenses may bring out more voters in a protest ballot which could boost the showing of minority parties.

There are eight seats available in the North West and a total of twelve political parties are competing for the seats.

Paul Taylor's guide to the parties and their policies

What the European Parliament does for us

EU factfile

Voting is conducted by a complex system of proportional representation and anyone entering the ballot box will be asked to cast a single vote for one of the political parties rather than any individual candidate.

Polling ends on Thursday night but the votes are not counted until 4pm on Sunday, when the last ballot ends across all European countries taking part. The results for all the north west will be announced in Manchester Town Hall on Sunday evening, some time after 9pm.

The votes are counted across the North West - which includes Greater Manchester, Cumbria, Lancashire, Merseyside and Cheshire.

Analysts will then use the De Hondt method of calculating the share of the vote allocated to each political party over the entire region - and determine how many seats each one receives.

It is estimated that minority parties will need at least around 8 per cent of the vote to secure one seat in the European Parliament.

The UK and the Netherlands both go to the polls on Thursday, followed by Ireland on Friday. Latvia, Cyprus, Malta and Slovakia vote on Saturday. Italy and the Czech Republic will vote over the weekend, between Friday and Sunday.

The other 18 EU countries will vote on Sunday, with first results in this seventh Euro-election emerging after polling stations close on Sunday evening.

Tweet