The countdown to the municipal and regional elections has begun as next Sunday the voting for the nomination of the municipal and regional authorities takes place. In the elections on Sunday, October 8, in the event that no combination wins a majority, the process will be repeated on Sunday, the 15th of the month.

In the upcoming elections, the majority electoral system for selecting the elected bodies of the OTAs will be reinstated after the application of the simple proportional electoral system during the previous self-governing elections of 2019.

The combination that wins a majority with a percentage greater than 43% of all valid ballots is considered successful.

In the event that no combination collects this percentage in the first round, a repeat vote is held between the mayoral candidates of the two combinations that received the most votes. Entry to the municipal or regional council is ensured by the combination that received at least 3% in the first round.

The new Authorities will be installed on January 1, 2024 and their term, which will be five years, will end on December 31, 2028.

A total of 1,222 combinations claim the administration or simply entry into the municipal councils of the country’s 332 municipalities, while 78 combinations claim the 13 regions.

The total of 8,481 positions in the municipal councils are claimed by 63,906 candidate municipal councilors, that is, the ratio is one position to 7.5 candidates. Accordingly, the cross of preference for the 611 positions in the regional councils is requested from the voters by 7,395 candidate regional councilors, which means that each position is claimed by 12 candidates.

The largest number of candidates (80,465) is for municipal communities. It is noted that the separate ballot box, used in the previous elections, for the election of community councils has been abolished. As was the case until then, in the upcoming elections as well, the candidate presidents and councilors of municipal communities are included in the combinations of candidate mayors. Municipal communities with a permanent population of up to 200 inhabitants elect a single-member body, the president of the community. Municipal communities with a population between 201 and 2000 inhabitants elect a three-member council, based on the results of the local elections. In municipal communities with a population greater than 2,000 inhabitants, the majority in the municipal council is held by the combination of the elected mayor of the municipality concerned.

All citizens who have reached the age of 17, i.e. they were born before December 31, 2006 and are registered in the electoral roll of the municipality, have the right to vote. The citizens of the other 26 member states of the European Union, who do not have Greek citizenship, but reside in Greece, have reached the age of 17 and are registered in the special electoral rolls of the municipality where they reside, also participate in the self-governing elections. until June 30, 2023.

The special electoral lists of non-citizens, emigrants, sailors and prisoners, which apply to parliamentary elections, European elections and referenda, do not apply to self-governing elections. This means that voters can exercise their right to vote only in the municipalities, in whose electoral rolls they are registered.

Voters can be informed about the place where they will exercise their right to vote, through the electronic platform of the Ministry of the Interior “Learn where to vote”, located at the link https://mpp.ypes.gov.gr/.

For the same purpose, a call center has been put into operation at the number 2131361500 with the ability to serve 30 simultaneous callers and operates daily from 08.00 to 20.00.

What applies to the electoral leave of public and private employees

Regarding the granting of a special permit for going to the place of exercising the right to vote, the following applies to public and private sector employees:

A. For employees for whom a five-day work week does not apply:

1. Those who move to exercise their right to vote at a distance of 100-200 kilometers will receive a leave of one working day.

2. Those moving 201-400 kilometers will be given two working days leave.

3. Those who travel a distance of 401 kilometers or more will receive a three working day permit, as long as they travel entirely by road, based on their responsible declaration.

4. Those who travel to and from islands, for which there is no road access, the number of days of leave they will receive will be considered on a case-by-case basis, depending on the distance and the special conditions of travel, without, however, this leave exceeding three working days days.

B. For employees, for whom a five-day work week applies:

1. Those who move to exercise their right to vote at a distance of 200-400 kilometers will receive a leave of one working day.

2. Those who travel a distance of 401 kilometers or more will receive a two working day permit, provided they travel entirely by road, based on their responsible declaration.

3. Those who travel to and from islands, for which there is no road access, the number of days of leave they will receive will be considered on a case-by-case basis, depending on the distance and the special conditions of travel, without, however, this leave exceeding three working days days.

This leave is paid and does not count towards the normal leave time to which employees are entitled.