Turnout fear as EU election opens

Voting for the European Parliament, the EU's most powerful legislative body, is under way, with the Netherlands and Britain the first to go to the polls.
UK voters will elect 72 seats and the Dutch 25 seats in the 736-member parliament. The rest of the EU's 27 members will vote in the coming days.
The first results are expected late on Sunday, the day the bulk of countries go to the polls.
Observers will be watching to see if turnout is higher than 2004's 45.5%.
But this is the first big electoral test across Europe since the region has been hit by economic meltdown, the BBC's Dominic Hughes in Brussels says.
In Britain, the European election, held at the same time as local elections, follows weeks of scandal over what some MPs have been charging to their expense accounts. Correspondents say no one quite knows how the public will respond.
Powerful institution
More than 375 million people are eligible to vote for the 736 seats up for grabs under various forms of proportional representation.
Germany, with the biggest population, gets the most seats - 99 - while Malta will have just five.
The newly elected MEPs will take their seats in one of Europe's most powerful political institutions, scrutinising and shaping legislation that covers everything from air quality to the cost of mobile phone calls.
Despite all this, in the past Europeans have failed to be moved by the elections, our correspondent says.
Last time around in 2004, turnout in the UK was 38% and in the Netherlands 39%. Some of the lowest turnouts were recorded in the newer member states of central and eastern Europe.
Ireland voters go to the polls on Friday. Latvia, Cyprus, Malta and Slovakia vote on Saturday and Italy and the Czech Republic over the weekend. The remaining 18 countries vote on Sunday.