Allowing transnational voting during European elections could alleviate the EU’s democratic deficit

European Parliament elections are often criticised for lacking the required level of voter engagement to confer democratic legitimacy to the integration process. Jonathan Bright assesses whether ‘transnationalising’ European elections by allowing voters to back parties in other EU countries would help alleviate the problem. He argues that language barriers may represent a challenge, but suggests that internet-based ‘voting advice applications’ could help bridge this gap and offer a more representative range of choices to national electorates.

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