A case for going to the polls on May 9th?

EDITORIAL

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The European Parliament elections and the actions of The Netherlands have put the Finnish Ministry of Justice into a bit of a bind. EU election regulations stipulate that a member-state may not publish the result of its voting before the polls have closed in all twenty-five EU countries. By the time the westernmost Union members complete their voting, it will be 11 p.m. on Sunday night, Finnish time. According to the EU, only then can Finland tell its people and the world what has happened.
      The Dutch, however, voted on Thursday and flouted the Brussels rules by publishing the results there and then. Germany, Sweden, and Denmark are threatening to break ranks in the same way.
      Justice Minister Johannes Koskinen (SDP) found himself in an awkward position over the matter. The Dutch decision pulled the rug from underneath the entire European Commission press embargo, but the Minister of Justice has problems with the idea of consciously breaking the rules.
      Consequently Koskinen decided that the results could be made public in Finland only on the dot of 23.00 hours on Sunday.
     
It might nevertheless have been worth Koskinen’s while to listen to the opinions of his ministry staff and produce a decision with a bit more spine to it. He reportedly sat for several weeks on the Justice Ministry proposal that results could be made public as soon as the vote had been counted, by around 10 p.m.
      As a lawyer, Koskinen could in this instance have also recalled to mind that old judge’s rule-of-thumb: if it isn’t just and reasonable, it can’t be law, either.
      The end product is quite as ridiculous as the grounds for the entire election legislation. The EU defends the idea of simultaneous publication of results on the principle that the outcome in one country could have an impact on voter behaviour in another, if the polling stations are still open. Given that the party structures are national and not trans-national, there is not the slightest danger that one nation’s European Parliament election result would affect another’s.
     
In order that some semblance of justice and reason can be salvaged from this mess, the law should be changed. The simplest solution would be to have simultaneous voting in all EU member-states.
      A suitable day for it could be May 9th, Europe Day. It could be declared a public holiday, and the elections to the European Parliament would bring to the day a content that reinforces the sense of our common European identity. There is always the chance that the solution might also increase public interest in the elections themselves.
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 12.6.2004


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Justice Minister Koskinen predicts higher turnout for European Parliament elections than last time (26.5.2004)
  Finland considers early release of European Parliament election results (1.6.2004)

Links:
  Europe Day, May 9th

Helsingin Sanomat