Elections

The polling abroad of the Romanian voters in the European elections of May 25 completed at 07:00hrs, EEST, on Monday, with the closing of the last open polling stations in Los Angeles, the US, and Vancouver, Canada, according to Romania's Foreign Ministry (MAE).

The voter turnout in Sunday's elections for the European Parliament was 26.52 percent at 7 p.m. according to data released by the Central Electoral Bureau (BEC) for the whole country.

The turnout was 23.69 percent in urban areas and 30.37 percent in rural areas.

40% of Bulgarians took advantage of the preference vote option in the European Parliament elections by 2 pm on Sunday, according to exit poll data.

Around 22.7% of the eligible voters cast their ballots by 2 pm on Sunday and 40% of them used the preference voting option, according to exit poll data of polling agency Gallup International.

Voter turnout in the European Parliament elections stood at 17.53% by 13.30 pm on Sunday, according to Alexander Andreev, Spokesperson for the Central Electoral Commission.

This means that 1 114 620 people cast their ballots out of a total of 6 357 824 eligible voters, according to the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR).

The voter turnout in the European elections in Bulgaria, as of 10 AM, is 6.88%, said the Central Electoral Commission (CEC). 

“The election process across the country is going smoothly and all polling stations are open,” said the CEC chairperson Alexander Andreev. 

The number of reported violations, according to Andreev, is insignificant. 

More than 18,000 polling stations nationwide have opened today in Romania at 07:00hrs, EEST, for the European elections.

As many as 18,226,995 voters are expected at the ballot box, with the vote process to end at 21:00hrs, EEST.

Millions of people are voting on the first day of the European elections 2014 in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, Thursday.

Voting will take place in the EU's other 27 member states over the next four days, with 751 MEPs in total to be chosen.

Voter abstention in the first round of elections for Greek local authorities on Sunday reached 38.4 percent of the electoral body, figures published on Monday have shown.

By Paul Tugwell & Eleni Chrepa

Voters in Thessaloniki and 10 municipalities in the metropolitan area of the second-largest city in Greece cast ballots that almost unanimously opposed the sale of the region’s biggest water utility.

Switzerland has rejected the proposal to introduce a minimum wage of EUR 18 per hour, the world's highest minimum wage, according to preliminary results of Sunday's referendum.

Supporters of the measure, including trade unions and left-wing parties, stressed the high living costs, while opponents argued that it would increase production costs and unemployment levels.