Sunday 7 June 2009

European elections

Today Greece elects her European Parliament representatives. I got in early and voted for my preferred candidate. To vote, you have to be registered in an electoral district. To register in an electoral district, you must have been living there for at least two years, and be a Greek citizen. Proof of identity is provided by your Greek ID card, or a passport, or a driver's licence, or a social security booklet (ie your health insurance provider).

After showing your card, your name is crossed off a list, and you're given a wad of white papers indicating the names of the political parties and the list of the names of the candidates. Voting in this case did not entail indicating your preferred candidate, only your preferred party. You simply chose your preferred party (in a curtained polling booth), folded the paper to fit into the envelope provided, and inserted it into the slot on the ballot box.



We went as a family. Our children came into the booth with us. They folded our choice into the envelope. Then they took away all the other papers and whatever other papers from other voters that were found in the polling booth, came out of the booth, dropped the envelope into the slot, and we went home.

Are you allowed to abscond with other people's voting papers??? No one batted an eyelid as we did this...

The results will be out in the evening. But don't count on the best party winning; in Greece, it's simply a rehearsal for the general elections.

Don't forget to take part in the quiz!

7 comments:

  1. Dina7 June 2009 at 16:37

    You vote on a Sunday? Is it not Pentecost in Greece? Don't you get a holiday?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dina7 June 2009 at 16:48

    So is it true what I read, that mantis means prophet or fortune teller in Greek? Is it still used today?
    Yes, my praying mantis must have been three inches. (Funny how I still think in inches.)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Biddy7 June 2009 at 17:15

    I hope the public's reaction will be positive. Please won't you do a little "prayer" dance to stave off any potential disagreeable demonstrations or strikes tomorrow. It's our travel day!
    I was also surprised about the voting on a Sunday.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Rune Eide7 June 2009 at 17:40

    We are not members, so I can't participate. However - we are not allowed to take away other parties paper! I thing there have been areas that has had to have new rounds when this has happened and not been corrected.

    ReplyDelete
  5. crocrodyl7 June 2009 at 19:11

    Very nice blog. In Poland we also have today this election to the EU Parliament. What about the turnout in Greece?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Gerald (SK14)8 June 2009 at 23:07

    We voted on Thursday and had 13 parties from which to choose one. You only get one voting paper and there is nothing to be taken away. Trying to recall the names of the party I can only remember 9. The results here are extremely disappointing.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Tinsie10 June 2009 at 09:23

    I voted in Greece this time too, and we were definitely not allowed to take away the voting papers. The rest of the process was the same though :-)

    ReplyDelete

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