Absentee ballot

The PM stressed that absentee voting is not only for Greeks living abroad, but for every Greek citizen who wants to vote without requiring physical presence - "We already have more than 115,000 applications."

More than 114,200 voters have registered for mail-in balloting in the June 9 European Parliament elections, surpassing last year's turnout from abroad, according to Greece's Interior Ministry. 

Participation is expected to increase further as the platform enters its final week of operation. 

An amendment broadening the postal voting regulations has been proposed to Parliament as part of the Health Ministry's legislation and is scheduled for a plenary vote on Thursday. 

Greek diaspora representatives have requested the expansion of postal voting rights for national elections, while speaking in a parliamentary committee.

The mail-in ballot will be used for the first time in Greece at the European Parliament elections in June, after its vote in parliament, the government said.

The relevant bill by the Interior Ministry has been posted for public consultation until January 10, and will be tabled in parliament shortly after.

The introduction of the postal vote announced at a cabinet meeting in Athens on Thursday by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is seen as an effective tool against absentee ballots. 

More than 54 million people on May 14 dropped their votes in over 197,000 ballot boxes set up across the country for the presidential runoff elections.

Though the voting process ended at 5 p.m., citizens waiting to cast ballots at polling booths during the deadline voted in turns under the supervision of attendants.

Voting ended at the diplomatic missions abroad on May 24 for the presidential election runoff, slated for May 28 at home, while citizens abroad can still cast their votes at border gates.

The Supreme Election Council (YSK) has reinstalled ballot boxes at 167 points in 151 representative offices across 73 countries for the runoff election.

With less than 24 hours remaining until the start of voting in the general election in Greece, the voting process began on Saturday as polling stations abroad opened to allow Greeks registered to vote abroad cast their ballot.

Of the 9.8 million voters on the electoral rolls, 400,000 are first-time voters.

Voting for the second round of the presidential election slated for May 28 at home began for Turkish citizens living abroad on May 20 at the foreign representative offices and customs gates.

The Supreme Election Council (YSK) installed ballot boxes at 167 points in Türkiye's 151 representatives in 73 countries.