
Article 1 
The Electoral Act is amended as follows:

((1)) Article 1 is replaced by the following:
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Article 1 

1. In each Member State, members of the European Parliament shall be elected as representatives of the citizens of the Union on the basis of proportional representation, using the list system or the single transferable vote.
2. Member States may authorise voting based on a preferential list system in accordance with the procedure they adopt.
3. Elections shall be by direct universal suffrage and shall be free and secret.';
((2)) Article 3 is replaced by the following:
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Article 3 

1. Member States may set a minimum threshold for the allocation of seats. At national level, this threshold may not exceed 5 per cent of valid votes cast.
2. Member States in which the list system is used shall set a minimum threshold for the allocation of seats for constituencies which comprise more than 35 seats. This threshold shall not be lower than 2 per cent, and shall not exceed 5 per cent, of the valid votes cast in the constituency concerned, including a single-constituency Member State.
3. Member States shall take the measures necessary to comply with the obligation set out in paragraph 2 no later than in time for the elections to the European Parliament which follow the first ones taking place after the entry into force of Council Decision (EU, Euratom) 2018/994.';
((3)) The following Articles are inserted:
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Article 3a 
Where national provisions set a deadline for the submission of candidacies for election to the European Parliament, that deadline shall be at least three weeks before the date fixed by the relevant Member State, in accordance with Article 10(1), for holding the elections to the European Parliament.
Article 3b 
Member States may allow for the display, on ballot papers, of the name or logo of the European political party to which the national political party or individual candidate is affiliated.';
((4)) The following Article is inserted:
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Article 4a 
Member States may provide for the possibilities of advance voting, postal voting, and electronic and internet voting, in elections to the European Parliament. Where they do so, they shall adopt measures sufficient to ensure in particular the reliability of the result, the secrecy of the vote, and the protection of personal data in accordance with applicable Union law.';
((5)) Article 9 is replaced by the following:
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Article 9 

1. No one may vote more than once in any election of members of the European Parliament.
2. Member States shall take measures necessary to ensure that double voting in elections to the European Parliament is subject to effective, proportionate and dissuasive penalties.';
((6)) The following Articles are inserted:
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Article 9a 
In accordance with their national electoral procedures, Member States may take the measures necessary to allow those of their citizens residing in third countries to vote in elections to the European Parliament.
Article 9b 

1. Each Member State shall designate a contact authority responsible for exchanging data on voters and candidates with its counterparts in the other Member States.
2. Without prejudice to national provisions on the entry of voters on the electoral roll and the submission of candidacies, the authority referred to in paragraph 1 shall, in accordance with the applicable Union law concerning the protection of personal data, begin transmitting to those counterparts, no later than six weeks before the first day of the electoral period referred to in Article 10(1), the data indicated in Council Directive 93/109/EC concerning Union citizens who, in a Member State of which they are not nationals, have been entered on the electoral roll or are standing as candidates.'
Article 2 

1. This Decision shall be subject to approval by the Member States in accordance with their respective constitutional requirements. Member States shall notify the General Secretariat of the Council of the completion of the procedures necessary for that purpose.
2. This Decision shall enter into force on the first day after the last notification referred to in paragraph 1 has been received.
Done at Brussels, 13 July 2018.
For the Council
The President
H. LÖGER