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GreekReporter.comGreeceAgreement Reached on Voting Plan for Greeks Abroad; Postal Vote Shelved

Agreement Reached on Voting Plan for Greeks Abroad; Postal Vote Shelved

The inter-party committee which agrees on the plan to give the vote to Greeks living abroad

Political parties reached a consensus on Tuesday on a draft of new legislation that will allow Greek expatriates to vote from their country of residence.
The inter-party committee agreed that Greeks abroad can vote through the nation’s embassies and consulates throughout the world. However, the government proposal for the establishment of the postal vote was rejected in its entirety.
The new legislation will guarantee that the vote of Greek citizens living abroad will carry the same weight as that of voters in Greece. Their votes will be counted equally in the overall result of elections.
Expatriates will be choosing candidates among 15 so-called “State Deputies.”
These Deputies, who tend to be personalities outside politics, and whose exact number depends on the total electoral strength of each party, are elected not in a specified constituency but throughout the country at large.
Parties may also include in their ballots personalities from abroad.
Greeks living abroad who would be eligible to vote must have resided in Greece for at least two years in the last 35.
Working in Greece, studying at Greek schools and fulfilling the obligations of military duty are some of the ways in which a two-year residency can be proven, according to the committee. Greek voters will also need to have a Greek tax identification number (AFM) as well.
“This is a bill that needs and deserves to be voted unanimously by the Parliament,” Interior Minister Panagiotis Theodorikakos said.
Main opposition SYRIZA and Communist Party representatives were positive over the resolution but reserved judgment for the final stance their parties would hold after the final draft of the bill is presented, while Yanis Varoufakis’ MeRA25 representative said her party could not accept the agreement.

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