A few hours before the polls open for the self-governing elections, the parties are “running” in order to achieve the best possible result, while the political leaders also threw themselves into the battle, with the prime minister himself having attributed the characteristics of a “political bet”.

Although the weight has been given to the 13 Regions and the three large municipalities of the country, Athens, Thessaloniki and Piraeus, the toughest battles for the “blue” faction are expected to be fought with the so-called “rebels” who come from the bays of the ND but they come down against the candidates who received the “anointing” of Piraeus Street.

The tough battles

The big bet for Kyriakos Mitsotakis, it is the Peloponnese where he and many top officials of Piraeus hastened to support the candidacy of Dimitris Ptochos who is facing the former blue executive Petros Tatoulis who has been regional governor in the past and with the support of ND while he was defeated in the last municipal elections from the outgoing regional governor Panagiotis Nikas.

A tough battle is expected to be fought in North Aegean where Alcibiades Stefanis was chosen to face the current Regional Governor Kostas Mouzouris.

However, Western Macedonia is also a bet for the prime minister, as the former ND MP, Giorgos Amanatidis, who failed to be elected in the last national elections, is stepping down as a “rebel” against the acting regional governor, Giorgos Kasapidis.

The matchup is also difficult Ionian Islands Districtamong the blue candidates, as the current regional governor Rodi Kratsa, who is supported by Piraeus, has opposite the former mayor of Corfu, also from the ND Yiannis Trepeklis.

The match is also expected to be ambiguous Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, where, apart from the unknown imprint that the devastating fires of the summer may have, the blue rivalry of 2019 seems to be repeated with the current regional governor Christos Metios going down against Christodoulos Topsidis.

Finally, under the weightless factor of the recent disasters in Thessaly, the match there is also expected to be decided. Although Kostas Agorastos, before the floods in Thessaly, was considered the favorite of the match from the first round, the developments have nevertheless overshadowed the elections, making the result fluid.

Where do I vote?

As far as procedures are concerned, citizens will be able to go to the polls from 7 am to 7 pm.

The first round of municipal elections will be held on Sunday, October 8, while, where a second round is required, it will be held on Sunday, October 15. The new municipal authorities will take office on January 1, 2024.

Voters can be informed directly about the place to exercise their right to vote from the “Learn to Vote” application of the Ministry of the Interior at the online address mpp.ypes.gov.gr, as well as from the local Citizen Service Centers and the Municipalities.

How many crosses do we put?

The number of crosses depends on the number of regional and municipal council seats per constituency. In particular, for the election of municipal councilors, the voter can express his preference with a cross in favor of 1, 2 or 3 candidates in municipalities that elect up to 19 members, i.e. in municipalities that have up to 10,000 inhabitants.

If the number of members of the municipal council is greater than or equal to 25, the voter can express his preference with a cross in favor of a maximum of 4 candidates.

In a similar way, in the regional elections the voter expresses his preference:

-toward 1 regional councilor candidate in regions where 1 councilor is elected,
-to 1 or 2 in the regions where from 2 to 7 councilors are elected
– up to three in regions where from 8 to 12 members are elected
-up to 4 candidate councilors in constituencies where more than 12 regional councilors are elected.

How the ID and passport offices will work ahead of the elections

Facilitation will also exist for those who do not have any problems with their documents (identity card, passport), since as announced by the Hellenic Police Headquarters, the ID and passport offices will operate with modified and extended hours on Saturday and Sunday, in view of the self-governing elections on Sunday, October 8.

ID offices will be open on Saturday from 8 am to 8 pm and on Sunday from 7 am to 7 pm, while passport offices will be open on Saturday from 8 am to 3 pm at noon and on Sunday from 7 in the morning until 7 in the afternoon for the self-governing elections.