The debate on the Ministry of the Interior’s bill on the “Removal of restrictions on registration in the special electoral lists of foreign voters” concludes today in the Plenary Session of the Parliament.

For the passing of the bill, according to the constitutional provision (S.51 par.4), at least 200 positive votes are required. ND, PASOK-KINAL, NIKI and PLESIS ELEFTHERIAS have been in favor of the bill.

The bill is an amendment to articles 2 and 4 of Law 4648/2019 and essentially removes the restrictive conditions that had been set regarding the right of Greeks abroad to participate in the elections from their place of residence.

In particular, the provisions of the bill provide that: Voters who wish to be facilitated in exercising their right to vote will be registered on their own in the special foreign electoral rolls. Enrollment in the special foreign electoral rolls can be done at any time upon application by the interested party in accordance with the procedure of article 4 of Law 4648/2019.

Correspondingly, the modification regarding the residential address, the suspension or the cancellation of the application for registration in the special foreign electoral rolls. The acceptance or rejection of the application is made by decision of the Directorate of Elections of the Ministry of the Interior. Henceforth, in his application, the voter fills in his details and specifies the non-State area of ​​jurisdiction of the diplomatic or consular authority, in which he wishes to exercise his right to vote.

The registration application is finalized by a decision of the Directorate of Elections of the Ministry of the Interior. The request for change and suspension or deletion will immediately become final. The conditions for registration in the special electoral lists of foreign voters and the application of the restrictions for registration in the special electoral lists in the elections for the nomination of members of the European Parliament are abolished, as well as the authorization of the Ministry of the Interior for the ex officio search for supporting documents or the extraction of the required information from the databases of the Greek State which were provided for in Law 4648/2019.