Elections

As political parties hammer out their strategies for the next five months leading up to the European Parliament elections, the primary focus is shifting to the opposition as ruling New Democracy maintains an unchallenged substantial lead. 

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 state's control over higher education is one of the most enduring fixations since the restoration of democracy.

The taboo has long been broken for the majority of Greek society. Attempts are now being made by the state to break the binding regime through legislation. The importance of the reform is historical.

ODIHR positively evaluated voting in 93% of observed polling stations.
1. The elections offered voters an adequate choice between political alternatives.
2. Freedoms of expression and assembly were generally respected in the campaign.
3. The legal framework provides an adequate basis for conducting democratic elections.

On Thursday at midnight, the election silence comes into force and ends on Sunday at 20:00 with the closing of the polling stations.
On Sunday, December 17, 6,500,165 registered voters will be able to exercise their right to vote at one of a total of 8,273 polling stations.

Interior Minister Niki Kerameus said Friday that the consultation process with parliamentary party representatives on postal voting will begin upon her return from Paris, where she is currently chairing the OECD's Global Strategy Group meeting.

The debate on the postal vote for Greeks living abroad was an undertaking that embarrassed the political system, which, in the previous parliamentary period, could not agree on the obvious solution.

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. 

Interior Minister Niki Kerameos and Deputy Minister Theodoris Livanios gave further details at a press conference on Thursday on the introduction of postal voting to the European elections.

The minister clarified that the postal voting bill does not currently concern the general elections, but only European elections and referenda.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced on Thursday that Greeks living abroad who are enrolled in the voting registry in Greece, will be able to vote by mail.