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Elections in Gibraltar
Gibraltar elects on the national level a legislature. The Gibraltar Parliament has 17 members, all elected for a four-year term in one constituency with each voter getting to vote for their selection of ten candidates. Gibraltar forms a single constituency but voters have only ten votes. Hence the electoral bloc with the most votes will normally get ten seats and the runners up seven. Eligibility to votePeople must be qualified to vote and listed on the Register of Electors in order to cast a ballot. British nationals (this includes all forms of British nationality) who have lived in Gibraltar for a continuous period of six months and who intend to live in Gibraltar either permanently or indefinitely are entitled to register to vote in general elections to the Gibraltar Parliament if they will be aged 18 or over on polling day.[1] Gibraltar, along with the UK, joined the EEC (the predecessor of the European Union) in 1973, and from 2004 eligible voters in Gibraltar were able to vote in elections to the European Parliament.[2] British, European Union and qualifying Commonwealth citizens (those who had a permit or certificate to enter/remain in Gibraltar, or who did not require such a permit/certificate on the date of their electoral registration application) living in Gibraltar were entitled to register to vote in European Parliament elections if they were aged 18 or over on polling day.[3][4] In 2020 Gibraltar left the European Union as a result of Brexit.[5] British nationals and Commonwealth citizens living outside Gibraltar can register as an 'overseas voter' and vote in elections to the European Parliament provided that they were on the Register of Electors in Gibraltar within the past 15 years (the 15 years period begins when they no longer appeared in the Register of Electors, not the date they moved abroad). For British nationals and Commonwealth citizens who moved abroad before they were 18 years old, they can still qualify for registration as an 'overseas elector' in elections to the European Parliament, with the 15 years period calculated from the date their parent(s)/guardian ceased to appear in the Register of Electors in Gibraltar.[6] Latest electionsGeneral elections to the Gibraltar Parliament (House of Assembly)Below is a series of results from elections to the Gibraltar Parliament and its predecessor, the House of Assembly (which was created upon the publication of the Gibraltar Constitution 1969). Elections take place roughly every four years, 17 members (15 before 2007) are elected at each election, using partial bloc voting. Each voter has ten votes (eight before 2007) meaning that parties usually stand ten candidates, and the winning party is that which manages to get all their candidates elected. 1969 electionThis election took place on 30 July 1969. AACR - 7 members 1972 electionAACR - 52%, 8 members 1976 electionAACR - 75.3%, 8 members 1980 electionAACR - 8 members 1984 electionAACR - 44.4%, 8 members 1988 electionGSLP - 58.2%, 8 members 1992 electionGSLP - 73.1%, 8 members 1996 electionGSD - 52.2%, 8 members 2000 electionGSD - 58.4%, 8 members 2003 electionGSD - 51.5%, 8 members 2007 electionGSD - 49.3%, 10 members NGD - 0.78% 2011 electionGSLP/Liberal Alliance - 48.88%, 10 members 2015 electionGSLP/Liberal Alliance - 68.4%, 10 members 2019 electionGSLP/Liberal Alliance - 52.5%, 10 members 2023 electionGSLP/Liberal Alliance - 50.04%, 9 members Key
UK electionsUnlike other overseas territories, Gibraltar has taken part as a UK counting area in three European elections and one UK-wide referendum as part of the South West England electoral region.
Some people have advocated, including individual MPs, UKIP, the Liberal Democrats and the Gibraltar in Westminster Movement that Gibraltar should be extended the franchise of voting in UK general elections as a Westminster constituency.[7][8][9][10] See alsoReferences
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