§ Mr. CurryTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will place in the Library a draft of 607W the ballot paper which would be issued to voters before the second reading of the European Parliamentary Elections Bill. [16957]
§ Mr. StrawThe final format of the ballot paper for elections to the European Parliament has not yet been determined. Parliament will be able to approve the final design. I have, however, placed a copy of an initial sketch in the Library.
§ Mr. CurryTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people will be eligible to vote in the European Parliament elections in(a) each of the English regions upon which the proposed new constituencies will be based, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland. [17060]
§ Mr. Straw[holding answer 21 November 1997]: The number of people eligible to vote in the next elections to the European Parliament in June 1999 will depend on the number of people on the relevant electoral registers on polling day. The number of people on the local government electoral registers in each of the proposed English electoral regions and in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland on 16 February 1997 was as follows:
Number East Midlands 3,167,433 Eastern 4,027,466 London 5,027,796 North East 1,984,212 North West 5,214,413 South East 5,988,686 South West 3,747,003 West Midlands 4,032,835 Yorkshire and The Humber 3,811,254 Scotland 3,995,923 Wales 2,226,923 Northern Ireland 1,190,977 The number of people entitled to vote in an election to the European Parliament would be slightly smaller since not all European Union citizens on the local government register chose to exercise their right to vote in European Parliamentary elections in the United Kingdom.