The European Parliament elections have started. The first votes have been cast in the European Parliament election.

The official election dates are June 6 to 9. But Estonia has a 3-day head start, with voting allowed starting Monday - from 9 a.m. online and from midday in person.

Millions of people across the EU will vote for their representatives in the European Parliament (EP), the bloc’s only directly elected body and the world’s only directly elected transnational legislature. They will elect a total of 720 lawmakers, or MEPs, for a five-year term, who then choose an EP president, a post currently held by Roberta Metsola.

Over 350 million voters will be heading to the polls across all 27 EU states. However, every country has a different number of seats in the EP, based on their size:

Germany 96, France 81, Italy 76, Spain 61, Poland 53, Romania 33, Netherlands 31, Belgium 22, Greece 21, Czechia 21, Sweden 21, Portugal 21, Hungary 21, Austria 20, Bulgaria 17, Denmark 15, Finland 15, Slovakia 15, Ireland 14, Croatia 12, Lithuania 11, Slovenia 9, Latvia 9, Estonia 7, Luxembourg 6, Malta 6, and Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus 6.

The EP currently comprises 7 political alliances: European People’s Party, Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats, Renew Europe, Greens/European Free Alliance, European Conservatives and Reformists Group, Identity and Democracy, and the Left in the European Parliament – GUE/NGL.

The EP elections are held every five years, so the next one will be in 2029.