Winston Churchill described democracy as "the worst form of government" - adding the typical rider "except for all the others".

What Mr Churchill would have made of the ballot paper for next month's European elections is anybody's guess. For in the name of greater democracy, this will be the first national ballot to use the proportional representation voting system. The paper will be a little bigger than normal - A3-sized, to be exact.

The usual slip has grown to its new mammoth size to accommodate 70 regional candidates. Lest this news causes alarm, be assured that you don't have to vote for all the candidates. In fact all you have to do is indicate the party of your choice.

Turn-outs in Britain are notoriously low for European elections, but it is still important to vote. Europe is rarely off the political agenda these days, so have your say. But allow a minute or so extra to absorb the size of the task in hand.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.