The main opposition party submitted three amendments to the Ministry of the Interior’s plan for the “Election of MEPs, facilitation of voters through postal voting, clearing of lists and other provisions” which is being discussed in the Plenary.

The first amendment proposes changes to articles 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16 and 17 of the draft law. In particular, SYRIZA-PS requests the amendment of paragraph 4 of article 8 concerning the Special Committee for the Control of Registration of Voters by Mail with regulations in order to have increasing conditions of transparency of the Committee’s operation and administrative control. The amendment of article 9 of the bill for greater protection of the voting process from double voting and the subsequent falsification of the election result. The amendment of article 10 for the organizational arrangement of the establishment of the Postal Vote Collection Committees and postal voting electoral divisions. The amendment of article 11 of the draft law with the aim of preventing the practices of “wild votes” and “family voting”. The amendment of article 12 with regulations aimed at facilitating the autonomous exercise of the right to vote by blind people with auxiliary equipment that meets their special needs. The amendment of article 15 for the organizational arrangement of the establishment of Postal Vote Collection Committees and postal voting electoral divisions based on the 13 Regions and per continent. The amendment of article 17 with provisions aimed at monitoring, in terms of transparency and democratic participation, the operation of the special application for the registration of voters who wish to exercise their right to vote by postal vote.

The second amendment tabled by SYRIZA concerns the “use of innovations and digital media for the modernization and transparency of the electoral process”. With the proposed provision, as stated in the Explanatory Report of the amendment, “the use of innovations and digital means is sought for the modernization and transparency of the electoral process and in particular the process of exercising the right to vote with benefits for the administration and the citizen”

The third amendment concerns provisions regarding the “facilitation of the autonomous exercise of voting rights of persons with disabilities” with provisions for auxiliary equipment that meets their special needs, their visibility and accessibility at the polling stations.