The government’s draft bill with proposed changes to the electoral law was posted for public consultation in Greek Parliament on Friday. The new bill makes a number of changes, such as the elimination of a 50-seat bonus for the winning party in elections. Another issue raised by the draft bill is the lowering of the Greek voting age to 17 years. The lowering of the age from 18 years is an effort to widen the electorate.
The bill keeps the three percent threshold for a party’s entry into Parliament. A memo explaining the reasoning of the changes states that the goal was to match the actual electoral strength with the representation in Greek Parliament to restore public confidence in democratic institutions and the political system.
The new bill will need to be voted on by 2/3 of the Greek Parliament, namely to receive at least 200 votes. If there are 151 to 199 votes then the new rules will be applied by the second elections from today.
The public has until July 4 to submit comments and proposals.
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