Increasing Greek Voter Registration Abroad
Greek Voter Registration Guide
We also took matters into our own hands: We developed a Greek voter registration guide.
The goal of the guide was to provide all the information anyone would need to register in one place.
Proposal Overview
In December 2019, the Hellenic Parliament approved a historic law granting Greek expatriates the right to vote from abroad. This right is extended to Greek citizens who meet certain criteria, including residing in their country of residence for most of the last 35 years, submitting a tax return, and being registered in the national voting rolls. However, despite an initial estimate of 300,000 eligible voters abroad, only a small fraction, less than 4,000, have registered.
Deon Policy Institute drafted recommendations to increase voter registrations. There were three elements to that proposal:
Direct targeting: Emailing Greeks that the state knows are living and working abord.
Partnerships: Partnering with Greek diaspora organizations to amplify the message.
Registration Support: Establishing customer support channels, to help expats through the registration process.
Facilitating the right to vote for Greek citizens living abroad is the beginning for the organic connection of the diaspora with the Greek state.
Our recommendations were implemented:
Three of our recommendations were implemented by the Ministry of Interior
Emails were sent to everyone registered as a tax resident abroad.
All employees of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs living abroad were mandated to sign up.
Short-term employees were hired to support the registration process in Consulates.
Project Contributors
President of Deon Policy Institute
Executive Director of Deon Policy Institute
Related Articles
10 Ways to Increase Greek Expat Voter Registration
by Georgios Laskaris & Afroditi Xydi
The summer of 2023 will be the first time Greek citizens living abroad will be able to participate in national elections. In order to increase voter registration we propose simple ways to inform citizens of their newly establish right and facilitate the process.