Postal voting

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. 

Theodore Livanios said that Greece has the strictest framework regarding postal voting compared to other European countries

Some 17,000 people have registered in just 11 days on the Interior Ministry platform for the postal vote, which creates optimism that the project will eventually be crowned with success.

More than 8,000 Greek citizens living abroad have registered on the platform for postal voting within the first two days of its operation, while there is also great interest from domestic voters.

Registration for the June 9 European Parliament elections must be completed 40 days in advance, by April 29, 2024. 

The online platform for registration in the electoral roll for postal voting was launched on Monday.

The initiative aims to streamline the process for Greek citizens to exercise their voting rights in the European Parliament elections and national referendums.

A last-minute amendment tabled by the Conservative government to extend postal voting rights to expatriates in national elections was rejected by the entire opposition.

A legislation establishing postal vote for the upcoming European elections, as well as national referendums, was voted by the parliament on Wednesday. 

The provision was passed by the 158 MPs of ruling New Democracy party. 

The government and main opposition SYRIZA have clashed in parliament over a bill that would introduce postal voting for Greeks living abroad in both European and national elections.

Interior Minister Niki Kerameus introduced an amendment to the postal voting bill in parliament on Monday proposing the adoption of postal voting for Greeks living abroad in both European and national elections.  

The announcement was made during the parliamentary debate on the legislation related to postal voting in European elections and referenda. 

Previous attempts to regulate the voting of citizens residing outside of Greece have ended in a bureaucratic failure blamed on the entire political system.

It seems that the lesson has been learned. It is significant that the largest opposition parties are on board with the government's legislative initiative on postal voting.