The ruling New Democracy party’s proposed constitutional amendment concerning the voting rights of Greeks abroad was finalised and submitted to the plenary of Greek Parliament on Friday.
Conservative ND general rapporteur Kostas Tzavaras outlined the main directions of the measure. He made these specific in draft legislation to be tabled in Greek Parliament in the coming days.
The proposal includes the addition of a new, fourth paragraph to Article 54 which specifies the following: “With the law of paragraph 4 of Article 51, the conditions are laid down for the exercise of the right to vote in voters place of residence when they reside outside the [Greek] territory, provided they have a real bond with the country, personal presence at a polling station, time of absence from the country or presence in the country for a certain time in the past.”
Furthermore the law provides that “the ballots cast by voters who vote in polling stations outside [Greek] territory do not count in a specific electoral precinct but on a nationwide level. With the law of paragraph 1 of the present article, there can be established one or more electoral precincts for Greeks abroad, in a departure from paragraph 2 of the present article.”
The law permits deputy election tickets to include expat Greeks and permits political parties to also have representatives of Greeks abroad on their state deputy ticket.
READ MORE: Greek diaspora seeks right to vote from abroad – and it’s a debate about democracy
