On October 22, MPs passed to its second reading an amendment to the European Parliament Election Act that reduces the number of Slovak MEPs from the current 14 to 13 between 2009-14.
The change comes in response to the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the EU last year. The law has already been modified three times since it was approved in 2003. According to the new amendment, the party affiliation of candidates will no longer be stated on ballot papers. Candidates and political parties will be allowed to withdraw their candidacy up to 48 hours before the election takes place (as is the case in parliamentary elections) in contrast to the current 72-hour period. Slovakia will constitute a single electoral district. One new development is that it will be possible to submit candidacy lists electronically. TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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