On Monday, 26 January 2026, the Greek government presented draft legislation that would allow Greek citizens living abroad to vote by mail in forthcoming parliamentary elections, choosing three members of the diaspora to represent them in Greece’s 300 seat parliament.
If the legislation secures a two thirds majority in parliament, that is 200 votes, it would come into effect during the next parliamentary elections, which are to take place by 2027. If not, the law will come into effect at the following elections, whenever they might be called. Currently, the governing party of New Democracy has 156 MPs.
To accommodate the three members of parliament representing the new electorate of the diaspora, without increasing the overall number of Members of Parliament – deputies elected on the state list (Epikratias list), where the whole of the country is considered as one electorate, will be reduced from 15 to 12. As the current law stands at the moment, in a state ballot the MPs are chosen according to a fixed order that favours the first few on the list, as placed by a party leader, and this list must include candidates from the diaspora.
As it became known, the proposed draft law will be discussed with representatives from all other parliamentary parties in Greece, before it is tabled in parliament in the coming weeks.
The recognition by the current government in Athens, that Greek citizens living abroad constitute a political and not only a cultural, linguistic and religious community, is a positive development.
Postal voting will enable more Greek citizens living abroad to participate at the national parliamentary elections
The participation of the proposed three MPs from abroad, in a Parliament composed of 300 members, represents 1 per cent of the seats.
The Greek citizens living abroad, voted for the first time at a parliamentary election in Greece, in person (Consulates), in May 2023. Out of the approximately 22,900 electors who registered to be on the roll, based on restrictive criteria, only 18, 200 actually voted. This represented 0.3 per cent of the total votes of just over 6 million cast, during the 2023 parliamentary election.
Given that 20,000 of those who were registered to vote were living in Europe, and actually 16,000 out of the 18,200 votes cast came from Europe, that is, almost 90 per cent of votes cast, it is reasonable to assume that all three MPs elected will be from Europe, and they will be elected with the votes of the 2010s debt crisis new migrants. Unless, of course, the Greek political parties encourage their voters and supporters to vote differently… It is estimated that during the multiple crisis of the 2010s, more than 500,000 Greek citizens left the country.
Old, big and influential Greek diasporic communities living in the USA, Australia and Canada, have no chance of electing their own representative. Suffice to say that only 169 Greek citizens living in Australia registered to vote in 2023 and only 125 turned up to vote, actually.
Given that postal voting was allowed in the European Parliament elections of June 2024, when 50,200 Greek citizens living abroad registered to vote and 36,650 did actually vote, it is reasonable to assume, that with an information campaign run by the Greek state, there will be at least 50,000 Greeks living abroad, who might participate at the next Greek election. The next election is expected to be held before Greece picks up for six months, on January 1 2027, the rotating presidency of the European Union.
It is reasonable to assume that the Greek government is of the same opinion, regarding the most possible participation rate of Greeks abroad. This is why they allocated 3 seats, like the electorates of the regions of Drama, or Arcadia in Greece for example, where in the last parliamentary election in May 2023, approximately 60,000 voters exercised their right in each electorate.
Considering that for electorates which elect up to 3 MPs in Greece, you are allowed to vote (put a cross next to the name of your preferred candidate) for one person only, it is reasonable to assume that Greeks living abroad will be casting a vote for one person only as well.
The three Greek citizens living abroad, who will be elected to the Greek Parliament, whenever the bill is enacted, will need to have the support of the political parties of Greece. The governing New Democracy party, without doing a lot for the various Greek diasporic communities, is much closer to its supporters and members living abroad, than all other political parties.
Finally, we need to raise a fundamental question that relates to consultation. Did the current Greek governing party and Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ government, consult with its members and supporters living abroad, in relation to this proposed bill? Will the other Greek political parties consult their own membership living abroad, before they give their final response?
