Ballot paper: This is the piece of paper you use to make your vote. It shows a list of candidates and voters have to write a cross next to their choice.
Candidate: A person who wants to be elected or has been nominated to be elected is called a candidate.
Canvasser: People who want a candidate to win can help them by becoming a canvasser for their election campaign. A canvasser asks voters who they will vote for and tries to get as many people as possible to vote for their candidate.
Constituency: The UK is divided up into 646 areas called constituencies. The voters in each constituency get to elect 1 MP to represent the people in their area.
Election campaign: Around election time, candidates and their supporters organise events and activities to convince people that they are the best person to vote for.
Electoral register: Across the UK there are electoral registers. These are lists of all the people who have decided they want to vote at elections. You must have your name on this list before you can vote.
Electorate: This is what we call everyone who is able to vote in an election.
Government: The institution which runs the country. The Prime Minister selects the Members of the Government from MPs, Lords and very occasionally senior people outside Parliament.
Manifesto: This is something that political parties write around the time of an election, which tells us what they would do if the got elected. A manifesto usually contains pledges (plans of action) on important issues and is often a big part of the election campaign.
MP: At a general election, the people in a constituency (area) can vote to decide who will represent them in Parliament. The person they choose is called a Member of Parliament or an MP.
Parliament: Where new laws are debated and created.
Poll card: This card is sent to everybody who is registered to vote – it has important information about the election like when, where and what time to vote.
European Election
What is a European Parliamentary Election?
A European Parliamentary Election is when people in the European Union choose who represents them in the European Parliament. The winners of the election then become MEPs (Members of the European Parliament). These elections happen once every 5 years. Almost every person over the age of 18 is entitled to vote, provided they are on the electoral register. (Click here to visit the UK Office of the European Parliament's website)
What is a region?
Every country in the European Union is split into different sections called “electoral regions”. There are twelve such regions in the UK, each represented by between three and eleven MEPs. (To find out which region you live in and who your MEPs are click here)
How many MEPs get elected at a European Parliamentary Election?
There are 736 MEPs in total. The UK currently has 78 MEPs.
What do candidates do during an election campaign?
To convince people to vote for them, candidates might make speeches, have debates or go “door to door” talking to local people about issues that affect them. Together, these activities are known as an election campaign. To help them with these activities, candidates need an election campaign team with speech writers, canvassers, press officers and spin doctors.
What are parties?
In the world of politics, people with similar opinions usually get together in groups – these groups are known as parties. Members of the same party can still have different opinions on some things, but they will have similar opinions on most issues.
How do you know who has won?
A system called “closed list” is used to choose our MEPs. This means that voters select a political party rather than a person. If a party gets enough votes for 2 MEPs, the 2 candidates at the top of their list will get the job.
What happens once the election is finished?
Once elected, an MEP represents their constituency’s (and country’s) interests at the European Parliament in Brussels which is in Belgium. The European Parliament is very big so MEPs from UK political parties team up with similar parties from across the European Union. Together they form what are sometimes called “Super Parties”.
Few young people interviewed here in Donegal knew what an MEP was. Many were unsure who to vote for, or whether to vote at all: