From 1981 to 1993, almost 80% of the registered voters went to the polls to vote. Interest in politics after the seven-year dictatorship was great. Andreas Papandreou as well as Konstantinos Mitsotakis they achieved maximum cohesion in PASOK – the New Democracy, and two powerful poles of power gained ardent and sworn supporters. Charilaos Florakis as well as Leonidas Kirkos they held the reins of government to the left. “Green”, “blue”, as well as “red” cafes were places of fermentation, gathering and expression of the party public in the region. In the recent, anti-environmental past, where plastic flags and posters ruled, the pre-election period was a rite of passage. From gatherings in the squares to trips to the village “so that the voice does not disappear.”

Citizens’ interest in the polls remained unchanged until the 2004 and 2007 election contests, when a percentage approaching or exceeding 75% considered it their duty to vote. Since voters began to show gradual reflection, which led to the fact that most of the Greeks turned away from the parties. From 2007 to 2019, 1.5 million citizens out of about 9.9 million on the lists are wanted. Lots of losses in 12 years. In 2007 participation reached 74.15%. In the last election, it rose to 57.78%, slightly higher than in September 2015, when things were even worse (56.57%). In view of the forthcoming election contests, parties are already taking steps to get closer even to unsworn refuseniks. For her N.D., the stakes are high to avoid the risk of an undeserved vote in a simple proportional ballot box. OUR SYRIZA he is trying to take the championship away from the “blue” faction in the middle, which deprived him of victory in 2019. Analysis shows that his defeat three years ago was marked by the abstention of a significant portion of the centre-left. Turnout reached 57.78%, with 5,769,644 people voting on July 7. The headquarters devoted themselves to studying data even by region.

Special strategies are compiled by N.D. and SYRIZA to limit abstentions in the upcoming elections.

However, the big “drop” in poll participation occurred in the 2012 dual elections, and the numbers are telling. In 2009, 7,044,606 citizens (including invalid/empty ones) voted (participation 70.95%), but in May 2012, 65.1% of voters came to the polls (6,476,751), and a month later – 62, 47%. It may be that the voter list cleanup, which in some cases is protracted, inflates the abstentions, but it is a fact that the economic crisis and the two signed memorandums (May 2010-February 2012) have alienated citizens from the screens.

Fatigue led to the fragmentation of the political system, PASOK leave the orbit of power (13.18%) and the first two, N.D. and SYRIZA, who will be elevated in the first elections of 2012, with a total of 35.63%. These elections, according to many sociologists, were a turning point. In 2007, 7,356,294 citizens voted, and in the second elections in 2012, 6,217,000 voted. In other words, more than a million voters were “lost” in five years. SYRIZA’s hope for a change in course only held back turnout in January 2015 (turnout of 63.62%), when 6,330,356 people voted. The spiral that the country entered in the next seven months and the signing of the third memorandum by the leftist government exacerbated the austerity that preceded it. Under these conditions, in September 2015, only 5,566,295 citizens turned out to the polls, while abstentions reached a historic high, exceeding 43%. The exclusion of young people from the electoral process was also accompanied by the flight of many from the country. Characteristically, in 2015 alone, more than 750,000 citizens turned their backs on polling stations.

In conclusion, the bad state of the economy, fatigue, scandals, real or not, and a strong sense of disappointment on the part of politicians are the elements that made about one in two come to the conclusion that the date with the polls does not concern them. .