The newly elected government of Greece, among its first legislative proposals, has raised the issue of enabling all Greek citizens to exercise their voting rights from their country of residence. The Greek Parliament is called upon to make a decision of great historical significance with the vote of the Greek Diaspora. 

The previous Parliament took a positive step by legislating this opportunity for the first time, though with several limitations, particularly the requirement, for those who have held Greek citizenship over the last 35 years, of proving two years of physical presence in Greece. The paradoxical nature of this regulation, which borders on the discrimination of Greek citizens in exercising a constitutionally protected right, became evident in practice. 

The residency requirement in Greece disproportionately affects older Greeks abroad, especially those who, due to distance or financial constraints, cannot travel to Greece on election day. Furthermore, the bureaucratic process to confirm residency in Greece was perceived by many Greeks abroad as a rather demeaning procedure for the verification of their Hellenism. As a result, they refused to register on the voter lists for citizens living abroad. 

The 25,000 Greeks from around the world who eventually registered, do not even remotely represent the size of the Greek diaspora community. In fact, a study by the Bank of Greece estimated that, during the recent economic crisis alone, approximately 500,000 Greeks moved abroad. 

The Board of Directors of the Non-Profit Civil Partenership KOMVOS-NODE: Networks of Global Hellenism, which, among other things, aims to harness the potential of the Greek diaspora for the country’s development, believes that it is essential to amend the law and simplify the participation of Greeks abroad in national elections, taking into account the following: 

• Firstly, the current regulation which allocates three seats on the national electoral lists for Greek citizens abroad needs to be adjusted. The number of seats should be determined in relation to the number of registered voters. Additionally, the law change presents a major opportunity to explore the establishment of representation for the Greek diaspora in the Greek Parliament—a historic change that would institutionally mark the universality of Hellenism for the first time in modern Greek history. 

• Secondly, the law assumes that the diaspora forms a singular, distinct “overseas” electoral constituency, removing the possibility from those who maintain strong ties with their ancestral homeland (likely the majority of those using their voting rights) to vote remotely for their place of origin’s electoral district, effectively severing their connection to it. 

• Thirdly, although Greek consulates and embassies were well organized and welcoming for the recent election process, the anticipated significant increase in voter numbers will likely cause congestion and delays. The creation of regional electoral divisions based on the number of registered voters per area would allow for voting without the need for travel to a distant destination. The implementation of Article 7 of the current law, which provides for the creation of electoral divisions of 40-600 registered voters in other cities within the Greek diplomatic authorities’ regions, is a step in the right direction. However, the organized registration of the geographic dispersion of voters and the creation of regional electoral divisions to serve voters from multiple neighbouring cities far from the headquarters of the diplomatic authorities, is necessary for the correct application of the regulation. 

Many of the above issues can be addressed through the clearly more cost-effective and practically simpler process of postal voting for all Greek citizens, a system already implemented in other EU countries (Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Norway, Hungary, Finland) and around the world (Australia, USA, Switzerland, India, Indonesia, Canada, Malaysia, UK, Mexico, Singapore, Philippines). 

The synergy of global Hellenism, through discussions with diaspora organizations, legal experts, and specialists on the Greek diaspora, can help resolve all the issues outlined above, provided that the discussions last longer than a week, especially during holiday periods. 

“KOMVOS-NODE: Networks of Global Hellenism” is open to discussions with both the government and the Parliament, and offers its contribution to the preparation of a viable legislative measure that will ensure the participation of global Hellenism in the country’s development. It also calls on all its corporate members to individually contribute to the ongoing dialogue. 

For more information: 

Konstantinos Drosatos – Professor at the Medical School, University of Cincinnati, USA 
Secretary General, Board of Directors 
KOMVOS-NODE: Networks of Global Hellenism 

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