At a national level,
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
holds elections for its legislature, the
Hellenic Parliament
The Hellenic Parliament ( el, Ελληνικό Κοινοβούλιο, Elliniko Kinovoulio; formally titled el, Βουλή των Ελλήνων, Voulí ton Ellínon, Boule (ancient Greece), Boule of the Greeks, Hellenes, label=none), also kno ...
.
Election of the legislature
The
Greek Parliament
The Hellenic Parliament ( el, Ελληνικό Κοινοβούλιο, Elliniko Kinovoulio; formally titled el, Βουλή των Ελλήνων, Voulí ton Ellínon, Boule of the Hellenes, label=none), also known as the Parliament of the Hel ...
(''Voulí ton Ellínon'') has 300 members, elected for a four-year term by a system of 'reinforced'
proportional representation
Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...
in 59
constituencies
An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...
, 52 of which are multi-seat and 7 single-seat. Seats are determined by constituency voting, and voters may select the candidate or candidates of their choice by marking their name on the party ballot. In 2016, the majority bonus system, which granted 50 additional seats to the largest party in the Parliament, was abolished, however it was still applied in the 2019 election.
In 2020, the parliament passed another law, reverting the system to a sliding scale majority bonus system similar to the pre-2018 system, but with the size of the majority bonus now tied to the number of votes won nationally. This system will be applied to the election after next.
Greek citizens
aged 17 and over on the year of the election are eligible to vote, and at the age of 25 and over are also eligible to be elected to Parliament.
Women's suffrage
Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...
was adopted in 1930.
Constituencies
Electoral constituencies colour-coded to correspond with the number of seats in each.
Constituencies in Greece have traditionally been multi-seat, and they mostly coincide with prefectures. The number of seats is adjusted once every ten years, following the decennial population census. Prefecture constituencies may not be deprived of representation, nor may they be merged with another prefecture; they may however be split into smaller constituencies if their population increases disproportionately: nevertheless this has not been done since 1967. Population changes have left eight (
Kefalonia
Kefalonia or Cephalonia ( el, Κεφαλονιά), formerly also known as Kefallinia or Kephallenia (), is the largest of the Ionian Islands in western Greece and the 6th largest island in Greece after Crete, Euboea, Lesbos, Rhodes and Chios. It ...
,
Lefkas
Lefkada ( el, Λευκάδα, ''Lefkáda'', ), also known as Lefkas or Leukas (Ancient Greek and Katharevousa: Λευκάς, ''Leukás'', modern pronunciation ''Lefkás'') and Leucadia, is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea on the west coast of Gr ...
,
Eurytania,
Grevena
Grevena ( el, Γρεβενά, ''Grevená'', , rup, Grebini) is a town and municipality in Western Macedonia, northern Greece, capital of the Grevena regional unit. The town's current population is 13,374 citizens (2011). It lies about from Athe ...
,
Samos
Samos (, also ; el, Σάμος ) is a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese, and off the coast of western Turkey, from which it is separated by the -wide Mycale Strait. It is also a separate ...
,
Thesprotia
Thesprotia (; el, Θεσπρωτία, ) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the Epirus region. Its capital and largest town is Igoumenitsa. Thesprotia is named after the Thesprotians, an ancient Greek tribe that inhabited the ...
,
Phocis
Phocis ( el, Φωκίδα ; grc, Φωκίς) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the administrative region of Central Greece. It stretches from the western mountainsides of Parnassus on the east to the mountain range of Vardo ...
and
Zakynthos
Zakynthos (also spelled Zakinthos; el, Ζάκυνθος, Zákynthos ; it, Zacinto ) or Zante (, , ; el, Τζάντε, Tzánte ; from the Venetian form) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the third largest of the Ionian Islands. Za ...
) prefectures with a single parliamentary seat each, whereas some urban or suburban constituencies have seen large increases in their seat allotment over the years.
For example, the "Athens B" constituency (which includes the major part of the
Athens metropolitan area
The Athens metropolitan area ( el, Μητροπολιτική Περιοχή της Αθήνας) spans within the Attica region and consists of 58 municipalities plus areas of East Attica and West Attica, having reached a population of 3,722,54 ...
but excludes the
Municipality of Athens itself, which forms the "Athens A" constituency) encompasses almost 15% of the country's electorate and consequently elects 42 members of parliament. The "Athens A" constituency elects 17 MPs, "
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...
A" elects 16,
Attica
Attica ( el, Αττική, Ancient Greek ''Attikḗ'' or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the city of Athens, the capital of Greece and its countryside. It is a peninsula projecting into the Aegean Se ...
(excluding the four Athens and Piraeus A and B constituencies) elects 12, and the remaining constituencies elect single-digit numbers of MPs.
Voting
Polling takes place in school buildings on a Sunday, a festive occasion for students who are then given a four-day weekend off. The procedure is run by a presiding judge or attorney-at-law appointed by the local
Bar association
A bar association is a professional association of lawyers as generally organized in countries following the Anglo-American types of jurisprudence. The word bar is derived from the old English/European custom of using a physical railing to separ ...
, and secretarially assisted by local citizens selected by lot in a process resembling
jury duty
Jury duty or jury service is service as a juror in a legal proceeding.
Juror selection process
The prosecutor and defense can dismiss potential jurors for various reasons, which can vary from one state to another, and they can have a specific ...
. Local police are available too. Local party representatives are allowed to monitor tallying; their theoretical role is to ensure transparency.
Traditionally, voting takes place "from sunrise to sunset" but times are usually rounded to the nearest "top of the hour" (e.g., 7 am to 8 pm). Individual precincts may prolong voting time at the judge's discretion, if there are still voters queueing up to vote. Voters identify themselves by their
ID cards and are given the full number of ballot papers for the constituency plus a blank ballot paper and an empty envelope. Then they withdraw to a secluded cubicle equipped with a lectern, pen and waste basket, where they select the ballot paper of their choice, if any, and mark the candidate(s) of their choice, if any; they cast the sealed envelope with the ballot paper in the ballot box and are given their ID card back.
Voters may select specific candidates within the party list of their choice by marking a cross next to the candidate name or names. The maximum allowable number of crosses on the ballot paper depends on the number of seats contested. Signs other than crosses next to a candidate name may mark the ballot as invalid during tallying, as such findings may be construed to violate voting secrecy. Ballot papers with more crosses than the maximum number allowed, or without any cross, are counted in the total party tally but are disqualified during the second part of tallying, ''i.e.'' the determination of which individual candidate is elected to a seat already won by the candidate's party.
Once on-the-spot tallying is over and the tallies reported officially, the ballots are sealed and transported to the Central Election Service of the Interior Ministry. There ballots are recounted, mainly to ascertain the validity or invalidity of the few ambiguously marked ballot papers. Any unresolved matters following this recount are referred to the specially convened ''Eklogodikeion'' (Court of Election), which adjudicates and then officially publishes the names of elected MPs, so that the new Parliament may convene. The Court of Election may reconvene at any time to discuss appeals by candidates who failed to be elected, and also to fill seats that become vacant in the case of death or abdication of an MP. Such seats are filled by going down the preference tally of the party list that won the seat in the first place (there are no by-elections in Greece unless a party list is exhausted: an extremely rare occurrence).
Greek citizens permanently living in European Union countries are allowed to vote in European Parliament elections; nevertheless very few of them actually vote as they have to do so in person at their local Greek embassy or consulate.
Electoral system
400px, A visual representation of the seat allocation system used in Greece.
The Greek electoral system was
codified for the first time by Presidential Decree in 2012;
prior to that date it was made up of various pieces of legislation passed at different times. The current system is called "reinforced proportionality" in Greece (ενισχυμένη αναλογική), and is a form of
semi-proportional representation
Semi-proportional representation characterizes multi-winner electoral systems which allow representation of minorities, but are not intended to reflect the strength of the competing political forces in close proportion to the votes they receive. S ...
with a 50-seat
majority bonus
The majority bonus system (MBS) is a form of semi-proportional representation used in some European countries. Its feature is a majority bonus which gives extra seats or representation in an elected body to the party or to the joined parties with ...
for the party that wins a
plurality of the vote. There is also an
electoral threshold
The electoral threshold, or election threshold, is the minimum share of the primary vote that a candidate or political party requires to achieve before they become entitled to representation or additional seats in a legislature. This limit can ...
of 3% which all parties and individuals need to pass on a national level before being awarded any seats. These provisions are aimed at helping the largest party secure an absolute majority of parliamentary seats (151 out of 300), enhancing governmental stability. The majority bonus of 50 seats was abolished in 2016,
but was still applied at the
2019 Greek legislative election
Legislative elections were held in Greece on 7 July 2019. The elections were called by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on 26 May 2019 after the ruling Syriza party lost the European and local elections. They were the first national elections sin ...
because the new electoral law did not receive a
supermajority
A supermajority, supra-majority, qualified majority, or special majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of more than one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority ru ...
in Parliament, and can thus not be enforced in the next election.
The next election will see the electoral system change to
proportional representation
Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...
, as the majority bonus will cease to be applied since it was abolished in 2016. The election after next will revert to
semi-proportional representation
Semi-proportional representation characterizes multi-winner electoral systems which allow representation of minorities, but are not intended to reflect the strength of the competing political forces in close proportion to the votes they receive. S ...
with a sliding scale bonus after it was passed in parliament in 2020.
The 50-seat majority bonus system was used for the first time in the
May 2012 election; it reserves 50 parliamentary seats for the party emerges as the largest by total votes cast on a national level. The remaining 250 seats are divided proportionally
in parliamentary constituencies according to each party's total ''valid'' vote percentage; this is slightly higher than the raw percentage reported, as there is always a small number of invalidated or "blank" votes (usually less than 1%), as well as the percentage of smaller parties that fail to surpass the 3% threshold, all of which are disregarded for the purpose of seat allotment. The previous law (used in the 2009 legislative elections) was less favorable for the plurality party, as only 40 additional seats were reserved for them.
Articles 99 and 100 of the codified electoral law lay out the way in which parties are allocated seats in accordance with the percentage of votes they received in a legislative election.
The introduction of the majority bonus makes seat allocation especially complex, but the steps followed for the allocation of seats are as follows:
*The number of seats a party is entitled to is first determined by dividing the total number of valid votes cast for parties which have surpassed the 3% national threshold and dividing it by 250 (99§2); this is later used to 'correct' the proportional results in the constituencies, ensuring that 50 seats always remain empty for the majority bonus.
*The 12 seats elected through national-wide party-list are awarded by first determining a quota by taking the total number of valid votes for parties which have surpassed the 3% electoral threshold on a national level and dividing it by 12 (100§1). The total number of valid votes cast for each party is then divided by the quota, and the sum is rounded down, disregarding decimals, to produce the number of seats the party is awarded (100§2), so that a sum of 5.6 for example awards 5 seats to that party. If any of the 12 seats left empty in this step, a seat is awarded to each party in descending order of leftover decimals until all seats have been allocated in this manner (100§3).
*The 7 seats elected through
first-past-the-post
In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...
in single-seat constituencies are awarded to the party which has the most votes in each of the constituencies in question, provided that that party has surpassed the 3% electoral threshold on a national level (100§5).
*The 231 seats elected proportionally in constituencies are awarded by first determining a quota by taking the total number of valid votes cast for all parties in the constituency, regardless of if they have surpassed the 3% electoral threshold on a national level, and dividing it by the total number of seats in the constituency (100§4). The total number of valid votes cast for each party is then divided by the quota, and the rounded down sum corresponds to the number of seats each party is awarded in that constituency (100§4), so that again a sum of 5.6 would be awarded 5 seats. Any party which is entitled to more seats than it had candidates on the ballot paper can only be awarded a number of seats equal to the number of candidates it fielded (100§5). Any leftover seats are then awarded by calculating the difference between the total number of seats a party has received on a national level so far and the seats a party is entitled to according to the first step (100§6). The same procedure is then followed on all constituencies except single-member ones (100§6), to determine which constituencies each party is over- or under-represented in. This sum is used to award one seat, in descending order of sums, to that party which has the highest leftover sum in each of the two-member and three-member constituencies until all seats have been awarded (100§7). If any party has been awarded more seats on a national level than it is entitled to, the extra seats are removed from three-member (or, if necessary, two-member) constituencies in which that party has the lowest leftover sums (100§7). If there are still empty seats, those constituencies are ranked in descending order by leftover sums of parties which have surpassed the 3% electoral threshold on a national level, and one seat is awarded in each constituency to the smallest party by total number of valid votes above the 3% threshold, until that party has been awarded the total number of seats it is entitled to according to the first step (100§8). If there are still seats available, the last step is followed again and seats awarded to each party in ascending order of valid votes received, until all seats have been awarded.
*The 50 seats of the majority bonus elected in constituencies are awarded after the above steps have been completed, ensuring that 50 seats remain available for the largest party (99§3a). A coalition can also be awarded the 50 seats provided that the average percentage of votes for each party in the coalition is larger than the percentage of votes received by the largest party on a national level, and in that case it is the
Supreme Civil and Criminal Court of Greece
The Supreme Civil and Criminal Court of Greece (, ''Areopagus'', i.e. the "Hill of Ares") is the supreme court of Greece for civil and criminal law. In Greece, the decisions of the supreme court are final. However, since Greece is a member state ...
that decides on whether a coalition qualifies for the allocation of the 50 seats (99§3b).
A rather complicated set of rules deals with rounding decimal results up or down, and ensures that the smaller a constituency is, the more strictly proportional its parliamentary representation will be. Another set of rules apportions the 50 seat premium for the largest-tallying party among constituencies. Individual seats are apportioned by "cross of preference". Voters mark a cross next to the name of the candidate or candidates they prefer, the number of crosses varying from one to five depending on constituency size. Ballots with no crosses or more crosses than allowed, count for only the party but not the individual candidates.
Tallying is done manually in the presence of representatives of all contesting parties. Party tallying, which is easier, is done first so that returns may be announced quickly. Individual candidate tallying is done next and can take several days. Once the number of seats per party and constituency is determined, the seats are filled on a top-down basis from the individual cross-of-preference tallies. Party heads and acting or past Prime Ministers are exempt from cross-of-preference voting: they are automatically placed at the top of their party list and are elected, provided their party achieves at least one seat in the particular constituency.
By constitutional provision, the electoral law can be changed by simple parliamentary majority, but a law so changed comes into effect in the next-but-one election, unless a two-thirds parliamentary supermajority (200 or more votes) is achieved. Only in the latter case is the new electoral law effective at the next election. A case in point is the current electoral law, which was passed in 2020. Because this law was passed by a simple majority, it will not used for the subsequent 2023 election, but can be used in the 2027 election.
Electorate
All Greek citizens aged 17 or over in the year of the election are eligible to vote, provided they are on the
electoral register
An electoral roll (variously called an electoral register, voters roll, poll book or other description) is a compilation that lists persons who are entitled to vote for particular elections in a particular jurisdiction. The list is usually broke ...
, unless:
*they are imprisoned for a criminal offence ''and'' they have been expressly deprived of the right to vote by judicial decision (this happens only in the rare cases of
high treason
Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...
or
mutiny
Mutiny is a revolt among a group of people (typically of a military, of a crew or of a crew of pirates) to oppose, change, or overthrow an organization to which they were previously loyal. The term is commonly used for a rebellion among member ...
). Incarcerated persons vote in polling stations specially set up inside prisons
*they are mentally incapable of making a reasoned judgement, according to a judicial decision. In practice, this applies only to a percentage of institutionalised mental patients
According to Presidential Decree 26/2012(as amended by law 4648/2019), article 4, the 1st of January is-for electoral purposes-considered the birthday of all citizens turning 17 in that year. As such, citizens are able to vote in elections before their actual birthday, provided that they turn 17 in the year.
In the past, citizens who reached adulthood had to register and were issued an "election booklet" with which they voted. Nowadays, registration for voters is not needed: it is done automatically each year by municipal authorities; catalogues of to-be voters (coming of age the next year) are composed during November of the previous year. They do not become part of electoral catalogues, till 1 January. Identity is proved by state-issued ID cards or passport. Special registration is necessary only for absentee voting, which is done at the place of a voter's temporary residence on election day. Many Greeks choose to retain their voting rights in their family's original home, sometimes by reason of tradition, sometimes by reason of patronage.
Since the abolition of Electoral Booklets in 2001, each and every voter is provided with a 13-digit Special Electoral Number. This number is used solely for proving the uniqueness of the voter and excluding any possibility of double voting. Any other use of the number is deemed illegal and carries a penalty of at least a year in prison and fine from 2934.70€ up to 29,347.03€, unless other acts have taken place.
This number consists of:
*a four-digit code corresponding to a Municipality or Community(0101-
Agia Varvara to 5410-
Psara
Psara ( el, Ψαρά, , ; known in ancient times as /, /) is a Greek island in the Aegean Sea. Together with the small island of Antipsara (Population 4) it forms the municipality of Psara. It is part of the Chios regional unit, which is part of ...
)
*the last three digits of the voter's birth year (999 for 1999, et cetera)
*a five-digit code that reflects the ranking of each new voter, in relation to his year of birth, which is unique per Municipality or Community and is allocated to the basis of first available number
*a number (or letter) in relation to the aforementioned codes used for the verification of the correct registration of all the 12-digit sequence.
The Special Electoral Number remains the same, even if the voter chooses to transfer his voting rights to another constituency.
The
Constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When ...
provides, following the amendment of 2001, for the right of Greek citizens living abroad to vote for the legislative elections and the law implementing this constitutional provision was passed in 2019.
Compulsory voting
Compulsory voting, also called mandatory voting, is the requirement in some countries that eligible citizens register and vote in elections. Penalties might be imposed on those who fail to do so without a valid reason. According to the CIA World F ...
is the law in Greece but is not enforced. In the past a citizen had to present an up-to-date election booklet to be issued a driver licence or a passport, or else justify why they did not vote (e.g. because of absence, infirmity, or advanced old age). Nowadays the civic duty of voting is still considered "mandatory" but there are no sanctions for failing to vote.
Turnout at national elections is low: a mere 56.6% at the
2015 election and 57.9% at the
2019 election.
Political culture
300px, Number of political parties in the Hellenic Parliament since 1910, by election year and electoral system.
Before 1910, Greece lacked a coherent
party system
A party system is a concept in comparative political science concerning the system of government by political parties in a democratic country. The idea is that political parties have basic similarities: they control the government, have a stab ...
in accordance with the traits of the modern
representative democracy
Representative democracy, also known as indirect democracy, is a type of democracy where elected people represent a group of people, in contrast to direct democracy. Nearly all modern Western-style democracies function as some type of represen ...
. The political formations of the 19th century lacked a steady organizational structure and a clear ideological orientation. Sometimes, they constituted just the incoherent and ephemeral escort of a prominent politician.
The first Greek parties with an ideological background, conforming to the modern conception of a political party, appeared after 1910, when
Eleftherios Venizelos
Eleftherios Kyriakou Venizelos ( el, Ελευθέριος Κυριάκου Βενιζέλος, translit=Elefthérios Kyriákou Venizélos, ; – 18 March 1936) was a Greek statesman and a prominent leader of the Greek national liberation movem ...
rose to predominance in
Greek political life and founded his
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
. The liberal wave of
Venizelism
Venizelism ( el, Βενιζελισμός) was one of the major political movements in Greece from the 1900s until the mid-1970s.
Main ideas
Named after Eleftherios Venizelos, the key characteristics of Venizelism were:
*Greek irredentism: T ...
resulted soon in the reaction of the "old-system" political leaders, who formed the core of an opposing conservative movement, which used the monarchy as its main rallying banner. Thereby, the two biggest ideological movements, the republican centrist-liberal and the monarchist conservative, emerged and formed massive political organizations.
The centrist and the conservative parties bitterly confronted each other in the ensuing legislative elections for many decades, until
metapolitefsi
The Metapolitefsi ( el, Μεταπολίτευση, , " regime change") was a period in modern Greek history from the fall of the Ioaniddes military junta of 1973–74 to the transition period shortly after the 1974 legislative elections.
The m ...
. After the ''
metapolitefsi
The Metapolitefsi ( el, Μεταπολίτευση, , " regime change") was a period in modern Greek history from the fall of the Ioaniddes military junta of 1973–74 to the transition period shortly after the 1974 legislative elections.
The m ...
'' of 1974, the leftist-socialist movement supplanted the centrists and took the main part of their electorate. A smaller part of erstwhile centrists, along with most conservatives, affiliated themselves with the centre-right
New Democracy
New Democracy, or the New Democratic Revolution, is a concept based on Mao Zedong's Bloc of Four Social Classes theory in Chinese Communist Revolution, post-revolutionary China which argued originally that democracy in China would take a path ...
party, which self-defined as a liberal party and drafted the republican
Constitution of 1975.
Until recently, Greece has had a
two-party system
A two-party system is a political party system in which two major political parties consistently dominate the political landscape. At any point in time, one of the two parties typically holds a majority in the legislature and is usually referre ...
dominated by the liberal-conservative
New Democracy
New Democracy, or the New Democratic Revolution, is a concept based on Mao Zedong's Bloc of Four Social Classes theory in Chinese Communist Revolution, post-revolutionary China which argued originally that democracy in China would take a path ...
(ND) and the center-left
Panhellenic Socialist Movement
The Panhellenic Socialist Movement ( el, Πανελλήνιο Σοσιαλιστικό Κίνημα, Panellínio Sosialistikó Kínima, ), known mostly by its acronym PASOK, (; , ) is a social-democratic political party in Greece. Until 2012, it ...
(PASOK). Other parties won far fewer seats. Beginning in the
May
May is the fifth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is the third of seven months to have a length of 31 days.
May is a month of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, and autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. Therefore, May ...
and
June
June is the sixth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is the second of four months to have a length of 30 days, and the third of five months to have a length of less than 31 days. June contains the summer solstice in ...
2012 legislative elections,
SYRIZA
The Coalition of the Radical Left – Progressive Alliance ( el, Συνασπισμός Ριζοσπαστικής Αριστεράς – Προοδευτική Συμμαχία, Synaspismós Rizospastikís Aristerás – Proodeftikí Simachía), ...
(the Coalition of the Radical Left) overtook PASOK as the main force of the left wing. After almost three years of opposition to the
ND-PASOK coalition government, SYRIZA took the most votes in the
January 2015 elections and formed government, while PASOK just barely crossed the threshold.
Currently, the left is represented in Parliament by the
Communist Party of Greece
The Communist Party of Greece ( el, Κομμουνιστικό Κόμμα Ελλάδας, ''Kommounistikó Kómma Elládas'', KKE) is a political party in Greece.
Founded in 1918 as the Socialist Labour Party of Greece and adopted its curren ...
(KKE), SYRIZA,
KINAL and
MeRA25
The European Realistic Disobedience Front ( el, Μέτωπο Ευρωπαϊκής Ρεαλιστικής Ανυπακοής), or MeRA25 ( el, ΜέΡΑ25), is a left-wing Greek political party founded in 2018. Its founder and General Secretary is ...
.To the right of ND, lies
Kyriakos Velopoulos'
Greek Solution
The Greek Solution ( el, Ελληνική Λύση, ''Elliniki Lisi'') is a political party in Greece founded by former MP Kyriakos Velopoulos. The party is right wing to far-right and has been described as ideologically ultranationalist and ...
.
2019 election
Election of the president of the republic
![Flag of the President of Greece](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/67/Flag_of_the_President_of_Greece.svg)
The
head of state
A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...
– the
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
of the Hellenic Republic – is elected by Parliament for a five-year term, and a maximum of two terms in office. Eligible for President is any person who:
* has had Greek
citizenship
Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection".
Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...
for at least five years,
* has a father or a mother of Greek origin,
* is 40 years old or more,
* is eligible to vote.
When a presidential term expires, Parliament votes to elect the new president. In the first two votes, a 2/3 majority (200 votes) is necessary. The third and final vote requires a 3/5 (180 votes) majority. If the third vote is fruitless, Parliament is dissolved and elections are proclaimed by the outgoing president within the next 30 days.
In the new Parliament, the election for president is repeated immediately with a 3/5 majority required for the initial vote, an absolute majority (151 votes) for the second one and a ballot between the two persons with the highest number of votes in the second election for the third and final one. The system is so designed as to promote consensus presidential candidates among the main political parties.
Elected presidents of the Third Hellenic Republic (1974–present)
European Parliament elections
Greece has had a delegation of
Members of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament.
When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Commu ...
in the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...
since Greek accession to the EU in 1984. Originally, the Greek delegation numbered 25, but after 2004 that was reduced to 24 (due to the increase of the EU member countries). In 2009, it was further reduced to 22, and in 2014 to 21 MEPs.
Electoral system
In the
European elections
Elections to the European Parliament take place every five years by universal adult suffrage; with more than 400 million people eligible to vote, they are considered the second largest democratic elections in the world after India's.
Until ...
, the whole country forms a
single constituency and an
electoral threshold
The electoral threshold, or election threshold, is the minimum share of the primary vote that a candidate or political party requires to achieve before they become entitled to representation or additional seats in a legislature. This limit can ...
is set at 3% of the vote. Members of the government and elected members of the
Hellenic Parliament
The Hellenic Parliament ( el, Ελληνικό Κοινοβούλιο, Elliniko Kinovoulio; formally titled el, Βουλή των Ελλήνων, Voulí ton Ellínon, Boule (ancient Greece), Boule of the Greeks, Hellenes, label=none), also kno ...
may only stand for election after having resigned from office.
Until 2014, the MEPs were elected on the basis of a
party-list proportional representation
Party-list proportional representation (list-PR) is a subset of proportional representation electoral systems in which multiple candidates are elected (e.g., elections to parliament) through their position on an electoral list. They can also be us ...
system. Starting with the
2014 European Parliament election
The 2014 European Parliament election was held in the European Union, from 22 to 25 May 2014.
It was the 8th parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979, and the first in which the European political parties fielded candid ...
, candidates are elected on the basis of individual
preference votes
In psychology, economics and philosophy, preference is a technical term usually used in relation to choosing between alternatives. For example, someone prefers A over B if they would rather choose A than B. Preferences are central to decision the ...
with a maximum of four preferences per voter.
Latest election
Local elections
Local administration in Greece recently underwent extensive reform in two phases: the first phase, implemented in 1997 and commonly called the "
Kapodistrias Project", consolidated the country's numerous municipalities and communities down to approximately 1000. The second phase, initially called "Kapodistrias II" but eventually named the "
Callicrates
Callicrates or Kallikrates (; el, Καλλικράτης ) was an ancient Greek architect active in the middle of the fifth century BC. He and Ictinus were architects of the Parthenon (Plutarch, ''Pericles'', 13). An inscription identifies him ...
Project", was implemented in 2010; it further consolidated municipalities down to 370, and merged the country's 54 prefectures into 13 peripheries. The Callicratean municipalities were designed according to several guidelines; for example each island (except
Crete
Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...
) was formed into a single municipality, while the majority of small towns were incorporated so as to have an average municipal population of 25,000.
The first prefectural elections took place in 1994; previously, prefects were executive appointees. Municipal elections were held since the formation of the modern Greek state, in the early 19th century.
Local administrators elected in 2010, following the Callicrates reform, are to serve a "rump" 3.5-year term. Starting in 2014, peripheral and municipal elections are to be held every five years, concurrently with
elections
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operate ...
for the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...
. In all local elections, the winning candidacy list is guaranteed a minimum three-fifths majority in the respective councils.
Past local elections since 1974
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1975 Greek local elections
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1978 Greek local elections
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1982 Greek local elections
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1986 Greek local elections
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1990 Greek local elections
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1994 Greek local elections
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1998 Greek local elections
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2002 Greek local elections
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2006 Greek local elections
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2010 Greek local elections
The 2010 Greek local elections were held on 7 November 2010 (first round) and 14 November 2010 (second round) to elect representatives to Greece's restructured local authorities, comprising 13 regions and 325 municipalities.
Background
Traditi ...
*
2014 Greek local elections
Local elections were held in Greece on 18 May 2014 (first round) and 25 May 2014 (second round). Voters elected representatives to the country's local authorities, comprising 13 regions and 325 municipalities.
Background
Traditionally, candidates ...
*
2019 Greek local elections
Referendums
The current
Constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When ...
provides for two kinds of referendums:
* a referendum concerning a "passed law"
* a referendum concerning a matter of "national interest".
The
latest referendum was indeed concerning a matter of "national interest", in contrast to all the previous ones that concerned the form of government, specifically regarding the Greek monarchy.
Previous referendums
There were 7 referendums in
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
from 1920 to 1974. All but one had to do with the
form of government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
, namely retention/reestablishment or abolition of the
monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutional monarchy) ...
. The
1974 referendum resulted in confirming of the
parliamentary republic
A parliamentary republic is a republic that operates under a parliamentary system of government where the executive branch (the government) derives its legitimacy from and is accountable to the legislature (the parliament). There are a number ...
. The only referendum not concerning only the form of government was the
constitutional referendum
A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...
in 1968 held by the
military junta
A military junta () is a government led by a committee of military leaders. The term ''junta'' means "meeting" or "committee" and originated in the national and local junta organized by the Spanish resistance to Napoleon's invasion of Spain in ...
. There were no referendums in Greece between 1974 and 2014. In 2015, the Greeks voted no on the bailout proposed by the ECB and IMF, which was however rejected by the government.
ImageSize = width:680 height:500
PlotArea = left:50 right:0 bottom:10 top:10
DateFormat = yyyy
Period = from:1915 till:2018
TimeAxis = orientation:vertical
ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:10 start:1915
PlotData=
color:green mark:(line, black) align:left fontsize:S
shift:(25,0) # shift text to right side of bar
# there is no automatic collision detection, fontsize:XS
# so shift texts up or down manually to avoid overlap shift:(25,-10)
at:1920 text:22 November 1920 – "Yes" for the reinstatement of Constantine I as head of state
at:1924 text:13 April 1924 – "No" for the continuation of the reign of George II as head of state
at:1935 text:3 November 1935 -"Yes" for the reinstatement of George II as head of state
at:1946 text:1 September 1946 – "Yes" for the reinstatement of George II as head of state
at:1974 text:8 December 1974 – "No" for the reinstatement of Constantine II as head of state
at:2015 text:5 July 2015 – "No" to the agreement plan submitted by the European Commission, the ECB and the IMF
See also
*
Politics of Greece
Greece is a parliamentary representative democratic republic, where the President of Greece is the head of state and the Prime Minister of Greece is the head of government within a multi-party system. Legislative power is vested in both the gov ...
References
Further reading
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External links
Parties and electionsGreek constituenciesNSD: European Election Database – Greecepublishes regional level election data; allows for comparisons of election results, 1990–2009
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elections In Greece