In the June elections, the Enhanced Proportionality Electoral Law will apply, which restores the seat bonus for the first party. Its difference from the allowance for the elections of 2007 and from 2012 to 2019 is that it is not fixed, but scales depending on the percentage of the first party.

If he receives 25%, the bonus is 20 seats, and the remaining 280 seats are distributed proportionally among the parties that have entered parliament. For every additional 0.5%, the bonus increases by one place (and the other parties’ places decrease accordingly), up to a maximum of 30 places. Well, the cap of 50 premium seats gives the first party a 40% percentage, as the ND got in the recent elections.

Self-sufficiency depends not only on the percentage of the first party, but also in combination with the percentage that the parties below the 3% limit will cumulatively receive. The higher the percentage of parties that do not get into parliament, the lower the level of independence. Conversely, the more parties in parliament (the lower the percentage for other combinations), the higher the minimum percentage for the first. According to APE-MPE experts, under a five-party parliament, self-sufficiency is ensured by a percentage of about 37.5%, under a six-party parliament the threshold rises to about 38.4%, and under a seven-party parliament – 39.3%. %.

List of elections

The upcoming elections also differ from the May 21 elections in the way candidates are elected. They will pass with a reserved combination (list) as they will be re-announced less than 18 months from the previous ones. Under this procedure, deputies are elected not by cross-voting, but in order on the ballot of each constituency, as is the case with state deputies.

Apparently, party headquarters and political leaders will draw up voting lists based on the ratings of deputies in recent elections, although the election law does not oblige them to do so. That is, they have the right to include candidates, even if they were not elected in the May 21 elections, and to exclude from the ballot or lower-ranked candidates who were elected in the recent electoral process.

How non-citizens and foreign residents vote

The upcoming parliamentary elections will be held on the basis of the electoral lists that were in force for the previous elections, since they have been finalized since the first edition of 2023 and include all changes made before February 28, 2023.

In relation to non-residents, this means that those who submitted their application late cannot vote at their place of residence in the upcoming elections.

Greeks abroad can vote at their place of residence if the application for registration in the special electoral rolls has been approved 12 days before the announcement of the election. If new elections are called on Monday, May 29, then this opportunity will be available to those whose application was approved before May 17.

Steps towards new elections

Otherwise, the APE-MPE represents preparatory actions, taking into account the choices, which should be followed from the very beginning. Two days after the start of the pre-election period, the deadline for the submission of an application by persons in uniform to their superiors and administrators of their intention to exercise their right to vote in the municipality in which they are included in the electoral rolls.

Parties within three days from the beginning of the pre-election period must declare their name and emblem to the Prosecutor of the Supreme Court and within seven days draw up and submit their combinations to the electronic candidate registration portal. Three days after the deadline for submission of nominations, the Supreme Court announces the voting combinations in open session.

Within 10 days from the beginning of the pre-election period, the deputy governors determine the electoral districts to be created, after which the Ministry of Internal Affairs sends the corresponding tables of the entire territory to the Prosecutor’s Office of the Supreme Court. The latter simultaneously receives the nominal status of judicial officials, lawyers, practicing lawyers, etc. for their appointment by lot as overseers and judicial representatives. Members of the election commissions of each constituency and their deputies are elected in the courts of first instance. The draw shall include persons registered on the electoral rolls for the respective constituency, who appear on those lists as residents of the district, have at least a primary school diploma, and are under 65 years of age.