The government gives the green light for the right of Greeks abroad to vote by tabling a legislative regulation in the Parliament, which will remove all the restrictions that were set about two years ago, regarding the registration of Diaspora Greeks in the electoral lists.
In particular, two days ago speaking on TV, the Minister of Interior, Makis Voridis, announced the introduction of a relevant legislative regulation, which lifts restrictions for the registration of Greeks abroad in special lists of foreign voters.
According to the relevant bill, in order to register to vote, the interested party must have a proven stay in Greece for the last 35 years, as well as submit a tax return to the Greek authorities.
The news was also confirmed by the Government Spokesperson, Aristotle Peloni, emphasizing that the said regulation will need two-thirds of the Parliament to be approved.
According to the report of the State General Accounting Office mentioned by ethnos.gr, the additional criteria that are a precondition for the registration of the Greeks abroad in the special electoral lists are removed (duration of one’s stay in Greek territory and submission of tax returns).
At the same time, it is the Election Directorate of the Ministry of Interior that decides on the acceptance or rejection of the application for registration in the special lists. Finally, the Special Inter-Party Committee is abolished, which has been assigned the task of examining objections to rejection of registration in the special electoral lists, the verification of specific applications at the request of a member or members of the committee as well as the sampling of the applications that were accepted.