European Parliament; elections; preferential voting; proportional election system

This article presents the essence and main features of preferential voting (as a constituent part of the proportional election system) as well as the Bulgarian experience in introducing the preferential vote in electoral practice. Chronolog- ically has been followed the emergence of the pan-European electoral tradition in terms of the formation of the European Parliament – the institution called to ensure the representation of the citizens of the member-states at the level of the European Union. The aim of the analysis is to confirm the inevitable need for a vote with preferences as a necessary component of any proportional system, and in particular for the election of MEPs.