VIRGINIA PERIFANAKI ROTOLO

Il nuovo sistema elettorale e il voto di preferenza in Grecia

N. 153

Summary - In 1989, the latest of a long series of electoral reforms was approved by the Greek parliament. One effect of this measure was the reintroduction of a system whereby voters state their preference for one or more candidates in a party's list, the so-called "vote of preference": this system had been abolished by a previous measure in 1982.

This reform brings the electoral system ever closer to a formula of pure proportional representation. The new legislation significantly reduces the majority’s "awarded" to the party obtaining most votes, while the second party achieves greater representation in parliament than it would have done under the previous law. There is a substantial reduction, too, in the under-representation of the third party created under the previous legislation.

This change in the electoral system has had a considerable effect on the Greek political situation: indeed, due to the fragmentation of the vote, Greece has seen for the first time in its post-war history the phenomenon of instability, if not impossibility of governing.

The vote of preference is reintroduced in a form different from that in which it previously existed. The new system allows the voter to express only one preference among the candidates of a given list. Only in the constituencies of Athens and Thessaloniki I are voters allowed to state a maximum of three and two preferences respectively.

Another unusual aspect of the vote of preference is that it excludes the party leaders, in that a vote for the list of which he or she is at the head is automatically calculated as a vote of preference.

Finally, it should be noted that the Greek electorate shows a marked tendency to make use of its vote of preference. An examination of the figures available reveals that the percentage of voters exercising their vote of preference increases progressively with the decrease in preferences permitted.